Montreal billionaire sued for allegedly paying minors for sex wants names of accusers

By The Canadian Press on November 28, 2024.

MONTREAL – A lawyer representing Quebec electronics billionaire Robert Miller says his client must know who his accusers are in a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging he paid minors for sex.

Karim Renno told a Quebec Superior Court hearing today that Miller, founder of global electronics firm Future Electronics, can’t present a full defence if he doesn’t know who is accusing him.

A judge is hearing arguments over three days to decide whether to authorize the lawsuit, which alleges Miller exchanged money and gifts for sex with minors in the 1990s and 2000s.

Renno says a class action is not a suitable vehicle for sexual misconduct cases, noting that the only one that has ever been authorized in Quebec was against Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon – and was ultimately overturned on appeal in 2020.

Miller, 81, was also charged in a criminal case earlier this year that is due back in court next month.

Miller, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, has denied the allegations in the criminal case and in the class-action application.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 28, 2024.

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