Grieving parents of Melissa Caddick fear losing Sydney apartment, court hears

The elderly parents of missing fraudster Melissa Caddick fear being kicked out of their Sydney home as they grieve their daughter, a court has heard.

The elderly parents of missing fraudster Melissa Caddick fear being kicked out of a Sydney apartment they contributed $1.1m toward as they grieve their daughter, a court has heard.

On Thursday, the Federal Court heard Ms Caddick’s parents, Ted and Barbara Grimley, are staking their claim to the Edgecliff home and assert it was agreed they would own 37 per cent of the apartment and live there for life.

Mr and Mrs Grimley’s barrister, Sera Mirzabegian, told the court they also want to recover two items of jewellery they gifted their daughter and more than $260,000 she was holding for safekeeping.

Melissa Caddick’s home being raided on November 11. Picture: NSW Police

The cash and property are among luxury assets at the centre of a court hearing brought by Australia’s corporate watchdog exploring how to repay the investors who sunk about $30m into Ms Caddick’s “sham” company, Maliver.

Ms Caddick, 49, vanished after her Dover Heights home was raided in November as the Australian Investment and Securities Commission unravelled her eight-year Ponzi scheme.

There is no suggestion her parents were aware of or had any involvement in Ms Caddick’s actions.

She has not been seen alive for eight months, but one of her feet encased in an Asics running shoe washed up on a south coast beach in February.

Melissa Caddick in 2003.

ASIC wants receivers appointed to begin carving up her assets, and those in Maliver’s name, to be distributed among investors as soon as possible.

The court has heard the amount expected to be raised would still be within $15m and $23.7m short of what she pocketed.

Ms Mirzabegian disagreed with the evidence from ASIC that the only funds Ms Caddick was spending on new cars, designer clothes and multimillion-dollar homes were stolen from her duped investors.

She said the Grimleys made a substantial contribution to the purchase of their $2.5m home – which is in Ms Caddick’s name – and were concerned it would be sold off from under them.

“They are in their 80s. They are now in circumstances where they may be asked to move out of their home when they are also grieving their daughter,” she said.

“Like the investors, they too gave money to Ms Caddick and there is no suggestion they knew the activities she was involved with.

Melissa Caddick is believed dead. She did not take any money, mobile or personal possessions with her.

“The amount they gave to Ms Caddick was more than $1.1m … on the express understanding, and we would say a common intention, that those funds would contribute to the purchase of the Edgecliff property and entitled them to … the right to live in it for the rest of their lives.”

Ms Mirzabegian said the Grimleys would oppose any move to pool all of their daughters' and Maliver’s assets together to repay creditors.

She said her clients gave their daughter more than $260,000 in 2017, intended to be returned to them in small instalments for living expenses.

“There was other money available to her and a substantial portion of those funds came from my clients,” Ms Mirzabegian said.

“The situation is much more nuanced and much more complex.”

They may also want to recover items of jewellery for “sentimental value”, as it is now believed their daughter has died.

The home of Melissa Caddick on Wallangra Rd, Dover Heights.

In response, ASIC’s barrister, Farid Assaf SC, said the receivership process would not shut out any of Ms Caddick’s investors from making a claim, including her parents.

“We’re trying to achieve fairness for all affected parties,” he said.

He said Ms Caddick would not have been able to buy “major assets” without the use of investor funds, which were her only source of income from October 2012 and November 2020.

A court-appointed contradictor, Nicholas Bender has argued the proceedings should be stood over until a coronial inquest into Ms Caddick’s fate is concluded.

Justice Brigitte Markovich has reserved her judgment.