Melissa Caddick’s business advisers to be examined in ASIC investigation
ASIC has asked the Federal Court to order documents, books and records relating to Melissa Caddick to be handed over, two months after her foot was found washed up on a beach.
Police & Courts
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Conwoman Melissa Caddick’s ring of business advisers including solicitors and accountants are going to be examined as part of the investigation into how she swindled millions from investors.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has asked the Federal Court to allow the provisional liquidators appointed to untangle her affairs to throw a wide net and quiz bankers, solicitors, stockbrokers, accountants, consultants and other professionals, none of whome is accused of any wrongdoing, who provided advice to Caddick or her company Maliver.
ASIC also wants the court to order the business advisers to hand over documents, books and records relating to their dealings with Caddick, 49, since October 2012 after they signed off on what have been revealed to be fake documents.
Provisional liquidator Bruce Gleeson of Jones Partners has said not one of the thousands of documents they have viewed, including bank accounts and share documents, were genuine with fictitious shareholdings and CommSec reference numbers that did not exist.
The latest move to try and claw back around $25 million Caddick scammed from 74 investors, many of them friends, to fund her profligate lifestyle has been revealed in documents filed with the Federal Court by ASIC on Friday.
Her husband, former hairdresser Anthony Koletti, has already had his $300,000 Audi R8 sports car seized and his Mercedes Benz coupe may be following after being listed as an asset in the documents.
Mr Koletti was still driving the Mercedes earlier this month when he joined Caddick’s teenage son and her family to farewell her at a private memorial service after one of her feet, which was found on an isolated south coast beach in February, was cremated.
Police believe she killed herself on the evening of, or the day after, a raid on her $6.1 million Dover Heights mansion by federal police acting on behalf of ASIC.
Mr Koletti, who lives with Caddick’s son, may have only until a July 31 deadline to agree to move out of the heavily-mortgaged mansion if it is sold to recoup money for investors.
Caddick’s elderly parents have foreshadowed a challenge to any bid to sell the $2.55 million Edgecliff penthouse their daughter bought for them, claiming they contributed to it.
Neither Mr Kolletti or Caddick‘s family is accused of any wrongdoing.
Caddick also owns a ski lodge in Aspen and her gaudy but pricey jewellery has been valued by Pickles.
The accountants and auditors who unwittingly signed off on bogus documents may also face civil court action by the devastated investors as they try to recoup what for many was their life savings.
ASIC has asked the Federal Court to appoint Jones Partners as official receivers when the case returns to court on June 29.
It was postponed from April 6 after investigators said they needed more time to untangle her complicated affairs.
Since her foot was found, ASIC has dropped 38 criminal charges against her, including not holding a financial services licence, 19 counts of falsely holding out that she had a financial services licence and 18 counts of dishonest conduct in relating to providing financial services - but their latest documents filed on Friday still seek that her passport remains seized and she cannot leave the country.
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