Melissa Caddick
Melissa Caddick | |
---|---|
Born | Melissa Louise Grimley 21 April 1971 Australia |
Disappeared | 12 November 2020 (aged 49) Financial advisor (unlicensed) |
Known for | Ponzi scheme, disappearance |
Spouses | Tony Caddick
(m. 2000; div. 2013)Anthony Koletti (m. 2013) |
Children | 1 |
Motive | Financial gain (alleged) |
Melissa Louise Caddick (
After months of speculation as to her whereabouts, partial human remains discovered on a
Early life
Melissa Caddick was born Melissa Louise Grimley on 21 April 1971, and grew up in
After graduating from high school, Caddick enrolled in a secretarial and business administration course at Patrick's College Australia in Sydney.[2] Her résumé reportedly included fictitious qualifications including degrees in finance from the University of Technology Sydney, which later said it had "no record of completion of a Graduate Diploma in Finance or Masters of Business in Finance – or indeed any qualification – under the name of Melissa Caddick or Melissa Grimley."[6]
Career
After initially working in NRMA's investment division, Caddick joined the Sydney branch of a boutique investment bank as an office administrator. In 1998, six months after taking the job, she was discovered to have stolen less than A$2,000 from the company by forging her boss's signature on several cheques. Rather than pursue prosecution, the company gave Caddick the option of leaving immediately without the police being summoned, or the matter being escalated; she chose to leave.[2]
Shortly afterwards, Caddick was hired as a
In later years, Caddick's extravagant spending drew suspicion among her acquaintances. It has been alleged that when questioned about how she could financially support her lavish lifestyle, she concocted differing stories about a
Personal life
Caddick's first husband, Tony Caddick, originally from England, worked as a builder's labourer in Sydney. They married in a ceremony at the
In 2010, the family moved abroad to England, to live in Essex and be closer to Tony's family, while he commuted daily to his job in London.[2] Caddick did not work while she lived in England and reportedly found herself bored with her situation. On the pretext of needing to "brush up" on her financial skills, she told her husband she was travelling to Switzerland to attend a conference. According to Tony, he later learned that Caddick had actually travelled to Paris to meet with Anthony Koletti, her Sydney hairdresser, where they were seen together and photographed by a mutual friend; Tony discovered that she had paid for Koletti's international travel expenses as part of an ongoing extramarital affair.[2]
After being confronted with her deception, while Tony went to stay with his family, Caddick cleaned out their home in Essex, emptied their joint bank accounts, and left. She moved back to Sydney with their son in January 2012. Once back in Australia, she falsely claimed to family and friends that Tony had been a controlling and abusive spouse. The couple divorced in 2013, and Caddick married Koletti later that year.[2]
Ponzi scheme
Between October 2012 and November 2020, it is believed Caddick misappropriated A$30 million in funds from clients who were primarily family and friends. It is understood she deposited these funds into thirty-seven bank accounts. Caddick had allegedly spent investors' finances on two houses in Sydney's eastern suburbs as well as luxury cars, designer clothing, artwork and jewellery.
As clients invested money, Caddick fabricated
Disappearance and death
Caddick vanished on 12 November 2020, the morning after ASIC agents and the
On 21 February 2021, a shoe containing a
The foot's location matched the
Hypotheses
It is not known how Caddick's foot ended up in the ocean.[4] Criminologist Dr Xanthé Mallett pointed out that having lost a foot did not definitively mean that Caddick was dead, saying, "When it was just a foot I would caution against the possibility that somebody is deceased. You can survive without your foot."[10] In an October 2021 interview, Koletti claimed that Caddick never stole any money and that someone killed his wife.[11] Other theories included Caddick going into hiding or cutting off her own foot as a red herring.[12] Alternatively, it has been theorised that Koletti was assisting her in hiding.[13] In February 2023 an inquest was told that the police concluded she had probably died after jumping from the cliffs at Rodney Reserve, around 500 metres (1,600 ft) from her home.[14]
Coronial inquest and findings
In May 2023, the deputy state coroner declared Caddick deceased after a coronial inquest but was unable to determine how she died. The deputy coroner said that there was a delay by Koletti in reporting his wife's disappearance and there were significant discrepancies in his accounts to police which gives rise to the strong suspicion that he was aware of his wife's movements over the previous two days but chose not to disclose them.[1] The deputy coroner also said that questions around how, when and where Caddick died remained "problematical".[15]
Aftermath
In April 2021, after Caddick's
In April 2022, Koletti made a claim through the Federal Court for a share of Caddick's assets, including her Gucci wedding dress, $7 million in shares, $2 million worth of jewellery, two properties he claimed were valued at $20 million and the proceeds from the sale of their luxury cars.[23][24] In May 2022, the Federal Court ordered Koletti to vacate their house so it could be sold by liquidators;[25] the house, purchased in 2014 for $6.2 million, was sold in October 2022[26] for a price reported in January 2023 to be $9.8 million.[27] In December 2022, clothing, art, luxury goods and jewellery belonging to Caddick were sold at auction for $860,000.[28]
In popular culture
Caddick's life was dramatised in the Nine Network's television miniseries Underbelly: Vanishing Act in 2022 with Caddick played by Kate Atkinson.[29][30]
See also
References
- ^ a b c McClymont, Kate (25 May 2023). "Melissa Caddick inquest finds fraudster is dead, but coroner can't determine cause". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McClymont, Kate (23 April 2021). "The 'forever' friend, the former boss, the ex-husband: The early victims of fraudster Melissa Caddick". The Sydney Morning Herald. Good Weekend supplement.
- Australian Securities & Investments Commission. (21-312MR).
- ^ a b c McGowan, Michael (26 February 2021). "Melissa Caddick: remains of missing businesswoman found months after disappearance". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 September 2022.
- ^ "Christian Dior confirms transfer $262k to Melissa Caddick's receivers". ABC News. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
Ms Caddick's foot was found on a beach on a remote south coast beach three months later, which police later used to confirm her death.
- ^ McClymont, Kate (18 April 2022). "Becoming Melissa Caddick: Fake degrees, forged cheques and a touch of 'Tipp-Ex'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ Kate McClymont (29 June 2021). "Melissa Caddick's 'trappings of wealth' a front for her Ponzi scheme". The Sydney Morning Herald
- ^ Swanston, Tim (26 February 2021). "Police thought Melissa Caddick was alive — three key factors combined to prove otherwise". ABC News.
- ^ Cocoran, Lucy (31 May 2022). "Melissa Caddick's Severed Foot Theory Has Nearly Been Debunked". Marie Claire.
- ^ "Creepy mystery could offer clues in case of alleged Aussie conwoman". NZ Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ Parkes-Hupton, Heath (18 October 2021). "Melissa Caddick's husband Anthony Koletti doesn't believe she stole money". News.com.au. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ^ "New pictures of Melissa Caddick revealed". The West Australian. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ^ Stonehouse, Greta (15 September 2021). "Husband 'may have helped' Melissa Caddick hide". 9News. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
- ^ Zemek, Steve (10 February 2023). "Melissa Caddick's cause of death to remain shrouded in mystery". News.com.au.
- ^ McKinnell, Jamie (25 May 2023). "Melissa Caddick, the Sydney 'fraudster' at centre of $23m money theft who had funeral two years ago, now officially dead". ABC News. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
- ^ "Accused fraudster Melissa Caddick farewelled at private service". Nine News. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- ^ Stuart Marsh (23 November 2021). "Melissa Caddick found to have operated without a financial services licence for eight years". Nine News
- ^ McClymont, Kate (24 February 2022). "Missing fraudster Melissa Caddick's husband fights to keep family home". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ Wootton, Hannah (27 February 2022). "Fraudster Melissa Caddick's family ordered to finalise property claims". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- Yahoo News. Australian Associated Press. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ McClymont, Kate (12 April 2022). "Parents of Melissa Caddick admit they were fleeced by fraudster daughter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ Cockburn, Paige (12 April 2022). "Melissa Caddick's suspected death to be investigated by NSW Coroner in September". ABC News. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ McClymont, Kate (19 April 2022). "Anthony Koletti stakes claim on Melissa Caddick's $30 million fraud". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ "Husband of Melissa Caddick stakes claim to a share of the millions she owned in property, luxury cars and jewellery". ABC News. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
- ^ Burke, Helena (19 May 2022). "Melissa Caddick's husband Anthony Koletti hands couple's mansion to receivers". ABC News. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
- ^ Macken, Lucy (28 October 2022). "Conwoman Caddick's Dover Heights house lands a buyer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
- ^ Campbell, Bonnie (31 January 2023). "Melissa Caddick's Dover Heights home sells for $9.8m". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- ^ "Alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick's luxury goods sell for $860,000 at auctions in Sydney". ABC News. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- Mediaweek15 September 2021
- ^ Nine's upcoming content slate: Snackmasters, Buying Byron, Parental Guidance and more tennis Mumbrella 15 September 2021