White Bear Lake chiropractor loses license over renewed swindling allegations

A White Bear Lake chiropractor who won reinstatement of his license despite serving two prison terms for defrauding clients and others has lost his license again, following allegations he bilked still more patients and investors.

The Minnesota Board of Chiropractic Examiners' decision in 2011 to reinstate the license of Randy S. Miland outraged victims of his frauds, because it failed to include a provision that he repay them for their losses. The board said that Miland had provided sufficient evidence that he was rehabilitated and met the conditions of his suspension and probation.

But the board revoked Miland's license in April, nearly eight months after a former patient and girlfriend complained that he had "stolen" $60,000 from her.

Tracy Bergman, a Minnetonka real estate agent whom Miland met while treating her, complained to the board that he initially told her the money would be used for an investment.

If so, that would appear to violate a 1999 consent agreement Miland signed with the Minnesota Department of Commerce that barred him from dealing in financial securities.

In a brief interview Tuesday, Bergman said the money started out as a purported investment, but when Miland failed to pay her as promised, she converted it to a loan and had him begin working off the debt by helping her to rehabilitate homes she was purchasing for resale. She said she was uncertain how much he still owes her.

The board suspended Miland's chiropractic license in October based on Bergman's complaint. It revoked his license April 16, after several more patients and investors began coming forward in January with additional complaints that Miland had failed to repay them on loans or investments ranging from $10,000 to more than $100,000.

"History, of course, has proved that is not correct," Spicer said.

Asked if the board referred its findings to law enforcement, he said: "The board doesn't typically refer to criminal authorities."

The Minnesota attorney general's office said it has referred the matter for state and federal investigation.

Neither Miland nor his attorney, Priscilla Lord, appeared before board to dispute the allegations. Lord said they had worked out an agreement with the board in advance.

"At that point in time he just figured that he really couldn't do much more and really didn't have the wherewithal to fight it," Lord said. She declined to comment on whether he disputes the allegations. "You'd really have to talk with him about that."

Miland's creditors say they doubt that they'll ever be repaid.

He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection April 27, listing assets of $16,763 and liabilities of just over $1 million, including nearly $125,000 related to an unpaid restitution order from an earlier federal fraud conviction. He also lists income tax debts of $12,166 to the Internal Revenue Service and $288,111 in state income taxes owed since the late 1990s.

The largest individual creditors he listed include some, but not all of the people that he bilked in the late 1990s.

Robert Harvey, 72, of Shore­view, said he doesn't understand why he's not listed. He said Miland still owes him about $70,000.

Harvey rallied earlier investors and worked closely with investigators from the Woodbury Police Department, FBI and Minnesota attorney general's office to get Miland prosecuted in state and federal courts.

Miland won reinstatement of his chiropractic license in 2011. The board granted him approval in a controversial decision that drew public criticism from the attorney general's office.

The board restricted Mi­land's practice to one clinic in White Bear Lake and forbade him from having any personal or business relationships with current or former patients or their family members.

Several patients reported that Miland violated the restrictions of his license by practicing outside of the designated clinic and by soliciting investments or loans from them, then writing bad checks when they demanded repayment.

One person, identified only as "Victim B," produced five pages of what he said were quarterly trading statements from Miland's futures trading business, Top Flite Investments.

The board has barred Miland from applying for a new license for at least 10 years.

"All the money I saved for a down payment on a home went to Randy," Harvey said, echoing two others who did not want to be identified. He said a number of Miland's patients, including some elderly ones, remortgaged homes based on his promises. "One gal waiting for a heart transplant gave him her money for the operation," he said. "He never has apologized to his victims."