Missing fraudster Melissa Caddick’s cars auctioned off for $360,000
Melissa Caddick’s repossessed cars have sold at auction for a combined $360,250 in a frenzied live online bidding war watched by more than 700 people.
NSW
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Fraudster Melissa Caddick’s repossessed cars have sold at auction for a combined $360,250 in a frenzied live online bidding war watched by more than 700 people, including her conned investors vying to recoup a fraction of their swindled savings.
The missing financial adviser’s run-around Mercedes sold under the hammer for an unexpected $65,250 in a bidding war that lasted less than a minute.
Her black Mercedes-AMG CLA45 wagon, seized by liquidators Jones Partners, fell under the Pickles auction hammer for $23,250 more than it was expected to fetch, with the buyer exclaiming “yes” down the phone.
The smart vehicle, which has clocked up 33,000km, was expected to fetch a conservative $43,000.
Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti’s 2016 Audi R8 V10 supercar — which cost about $400,000 brand new and had clocked up 24,000km — started at $200,00 and sold for $295,000.
Both vehicles were registered to Ms Caddick’s private company Maliver Pty Ltd.
The auction of Ms Caddick’s cars has given her conned 70 investors hope of receiving a fraction of the $24 million they collectively lost after investing in her Ponzi scheme.
The fake financial adviser vanished from her Sydney home in Dover Heights in November 2020 after it was revealed she had stolen tens of millions of dollars from investors.
It emerged last week that police made an application for an AVO against hairdresser and music producer Mr Koletti on behalf of Isabella Allen, the head of the ASIC investigation into Caddick’s disappearance.
It is not suggested the AVO application has any bearing on Mr Koletti contacting liquidators, Jones Partners.
ASIC said the matter was underway but refused to comment.
It comes after federal police investigating finance fraud in 2020 raided Ms Caddick’s Dover Heights mansion acting on an anonymous information.
She disappeared from her home during the early hours of the following morning.
An exhaustive search failed to unearth clues to her whereabouts.
Almost 13 weeks later her partial remains were found washed-up at Bournda Beach, near Tathra, by passersby.
After the unlicensed financial advisor’s disappearance and assumed death in 2020, her company was put under the control of liquidators.
They were tasked with recouping funds stolen by Caddick from more than 70 victims including close friends and family who thought they were investing in the stock market.
Ms Caddick’s mansion in Dover Heights, which she bought for $6.2 million in 2014, is also expected to go on the market in the coming months.
Liquidator Bruce Gleeson said the liquidation of Ms Caddick’s assets was a crucial step towards reimbursing the many victims of her Ponzi scheme.
“This is an important step in commencing the asset realisation process in the liquidation,” he said.
“We are also advancing other efforts, including recovering potential tax refunds as part of the Liquidation.”
A court hearing last year heard Ms Caddick misappropriated investors’ money over a period of eight years to buy real estate, luxury goods, and holidays.
The fraudster sent her clients fictitious portfolio evaluations through her boutique financial services company Maliver.
Before her death, she faced 38 charges, including multiple counts of fraud and falsely claiming she had a financial services licence.
Mr Gleeson said Ms Caddick’s harbour-front Dover Heights home along with another property owned by the family in Edgecliff would “soon” be ready for liquidation.
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