Melissa Caddick disappearance: Suspected conwoman spent years ‘living large’ on investor funds

Before suspected conwoman Melissa Caddick disappeared, the Sydney millionaire was living a lavish life allegedly on her friends’ money.

It’s been almost three months since businesswoman Melissa Caddick left her harbourside Sydney mansion for an early morning run, never to be seen again.

Initially police feared the worst but then it emerged Ms Caddick had been at the centre of a lengthy and extensive investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) over allegations she’d stolen millions from her friends and family.

On November 11, the night before she went for a run without her phone and her home’s extensive security system turned off, ASIC investigators and officers from the Australian Federal Police turned up to raid her Dover Heights home.

Ms Caddick was told she needed to hand her passport in and was informed her assets would be frozen.

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ASIC’S raid on Melissa Caddick’s home in November. Picture: NSW Police

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Hours later, at 5.30am on November 12, she slipped out of her family’s $6 million home and was never seen again.

Since her disappearance, more than a dozen of Ms Caddick’s friends and family have come forward to appeal for their missing money.

Before Ms Caddick landed in the crosshairs of ASIC, the 49-year-old businesswoman and her husband Anthony Koletti were living the high life – all on the money invested into Ms Caddick’s allegedly fraudulent business Maliver Pty Ltd.

A bank statement from Ms Caddick’s American Express card revealed the couple were forking out around $600,000 a year to fund their high-roller lifestyle.

Documents from ASIC revealed Ms Caddick had dropped a whopping $230,000 at Christian Dior, $120,000 on skiing trips to Aspen and $108,000 at Flight Centre between December 2017 and August 2020.

Melissa and Anthony on a skiing holiday.

Dominic Calabria, a partner at Bridges Lawyers, who is representing a number of victims that trusted Ms Caddick with their savings, told The Sydney Morning Heraldit was clear the Dover Heights couple had been “living large”.

Despite the calls to sell up all of Ms Caddick’s belongings – to recoup some allegedly lost funds – Mr Calabria said it wasn’t about punishing the missing woman’s family.

“No-one is seeking to ‘punish’ any other innocent member of the Caddick family,” he said. “The Bridges investors are sympathetic to the extent that those family members are also victims.

“In balancing all of the interests, for how long is it reasonable for Caddick family members to continue to live on investors’ funds?”

Mr Calabria is representing 15 investors, who allege they’ve lost a combined $6 million through Ms Caddick’s business.

In total, it’s believed Ms Caddick allegedly conned around $25 million out of investors.

Bank statements controlled by Ms Caddick showed more than $20 million was deposited into her account between January 2018 and September 2020. Just $700,000 of that remains.

An initial order freezing Ms Caddick’s assets allowed for $800 per week for her husband and 15-year-old son, but their lawyers asked for an increase in December.

Anthony Koletti and Melissa Caddick.

The family first requested a change to $4880 a week, a sum described as “staggering” by lawyers for ASIC.

The Federal Court heard a new sum had been given by barrister David Sulan, who is representing Ms Caddick’s brother Adam Grimley as her representative.

It’s believed the sum is around $1700 a week.

On behalf of his investor clients, Mr Calabria has objected to Ms Caddick’s remaining funds to be used on legal fees.

Mr Grimley, Ms Caddick’s brother, has already racked up more than $110,000 in legal fees.

There is no suggestion Mr Koletti, her teenage son or anyone else in her family had any knowledge or involvement in Ms Caddick’s alleged fraud.

Ms Caddick’s brother Adam Grimley and husband Anthony Koletti made a public appeal after she went missing. Picture: Joel Carrett/NCA NewsWire

The court was told in December that investors had placed $13.1 million in the fund managed by Ms Caddick and investigations had revealed $4 million in her various bank accounts.

Furious friends, who invested millions into Ms Caddick’s business, last week labelled her “evil”.

“Melissa, I can’t wait to see you in a jail cell,” one former friend told A Current Affair.

ASIC will return to court on February 22 with administrators appointed to Ms Caddick’s company.

The hearing is expected to touch on where Ms Caddick’s missing funds could be.