Wolf in chic clothing: Melissa Caddick’s $400,000 date night on investors’ tab By Kate McClymont May 9, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/national/wol...e-night-on-investors-tab-20220507-p5ajg5.html Melissa Caddick was determined to make an impression. It was July 2018 and the con artist and her second husband Anthony Koletti beamed for the camera on the makeshift red carpet outside her son’s school gymnasium. Fellow parents would have been shocked had they been aware that the couple, who were attending the school’s fundraising ball, were decked out in more than $400,000 worth of luxury clothes, jewellery and accessories. All of it was purchased using funds Caddick had stolen from her friends and family who thought they were investing in shares. Unbeknown to her husband, family or friends, from 2012 until her disappearance in November 2020, Caddick, 49, had been running one of Australia’s biggest Ponzi schemes. Over that time she squandered more than $23 million on a lifestyle of unbelievable excess: numerous overseas jaunts every year, European cars, designer clothes, accessories, real estate, shoes and millions of dollars worth of jewellery. The now-famous photograph showing Caddick in a magnificent midnight blue strapless ball gown epitomises her extraordinary spending. The embossed ball gown is from the 2018 collection of international fashion designer Oscar de la Renta. It cost $14,180. She is also wearing a $250,000 diamond and sapphire necklace as well as the matching earrings and a bracelet, valued at more than $40,000. Her engagement ring cost $34,000 and her wedding band was $26,500. Under her arm is an expensive Yves St Laurent evening bag. As well as his smart tuxedo and shiny shoes, her husband is wearing his $26,000 wedding band, cufflinks worth $8000 and a gentleman’s steel Breitling chronograph Navitimer wristwatch which retails for about $11,000. Melissa Caddick and Anthony Koletti sporting his and hers diamond sapphire jewellery. Caddick’s is worth $250,000, Koletti’s has been valued at $8360. Had their date night been a few weeks earlier, Caddick alone would have been sporting more than a million dollars from the proceeds of her crimes, the podcast Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions reveals. In late May 2018, lot 658 at Bonhams’ rare jewellery auction in Hong Kong featured a flawless single-stone diamond ring diamond weighing 6.03 carats. Described in the brochure as “a true rarity in what is already a rarefied world”, this stunning diamond ring fetched a whopping $620,000. The ring Melissa Caddick bought with her parents’ money was pictured in a catalogue when she later sold it. The vendor was none other than Melissa Caddick, who had fraudulently used her parents’ money to complete the $590,000 purchase of the diamond the previous year. With the costs associated with the sale taken out, Caddick’s victims forked out $124,000 for the privilege of the fraudster sporting the bauble on her finger for a year. When the corporate regulator ASIC and the federal police raided Caddick’s Dover Heights house in November 2020, they took 48 separate pieces of jewellery worth more than $2 million. There was also a $100,000 necklace that Caddick had bought, but hadn’t yet collected, from jeweller Stefano Canturi. However, there remains the mystery over the whereabouts of several Argyle diamonds worth millions of dollars that Caddick claimed to own. A certified diamond wholesaler told the podcast that, when she offered Caddick a rare Argyle diamond worth about $1 million, Caddick replied saying she had already spent her jewellery investment budget for the year. She then texted the dealer a photo of three Argyle diamonds which she said she had bought in 2017 and 2018. Rare Argyle diamonds worth millions of dollars that Melissa Caddick claimed to own. “One of them caught my eye because it was a blue diamond,” the diamond dealer said. “They’re very rare. They’re also very, very expensive ... multiple millions of dollars.” Caddick said she planned to hold on to the diamonds for a couple of years and then sell them. When it was revealed that Caddick had vanished within hours of the raid on her house, the diamond dealer reported Caddick’s Argyle diamonds to the police because of their extraordinary value and the ease of getting them out of the country. The dealer told police that airport scanners cannot detect diamonds because “they don’t X-ray”. Anthony Koletti and Melissa Caddick on the ski slopes.Credit:Facebook Bruce Gleeson, the court-appointed receiver tasked with selling Caddick’s assets, has not located any Argyle diamonds. Gleeson suggested that, just as Caddick left a non-existent Aspen apartment in her will, “it’s not inconsistent with her behaviour” for her to be lying about owning millions of dollars worth of rare diamonds. Investigators from ASIC have estimated Caddick’s spending on luxury goods in the 18 months from December 2017 included: $229,277 at Dior, $187,650 at Canturi Jewellers, $52,548 at Cosmopolitan Shoes, $48,588 at Chanel, $45,600 at Farfetch, $17,777 at Louis Vuitton, $39,575 at Net-A-Porter, tens of thousands at other stores including a luxury department store on New York’s Fifth Avenue, and personal expenses estimated at $291,744. Caddick is also estimated to have spent about $500,000 a year on overseas travel over the course of her fraud. Among spending uncovered in the podcast are details of $108,586 spent at Flight Centre, $63,002 on trips to Fiji, $35,151 on Aspen plus $34,223 on renting an apartment in Aspen, $37,283 in New York, $55,609 with Qantas. One expense of $43,273 was spent on a whim after arriving in Aspen as Caddick decided the snow wasn’t good enough, so the family decamped to the Canadian resort of Whistler instead. Experts have told the podcast that Caddick might have had a shopping addiction or what is known as compulsive buying disorder. Perfectionism, dishonesty, insecurity, and the need to gain control have been linked to the disorder.
‘The treachery behind it is just unbearable’: Heartbreaking fallout of Melissa Caddick’s fraud By Kate McClymont June 13, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/national/the...-melissa-caddick-s-fraud-20220606-p5ardh.html Missing con artist Melissa Caddick used funds she received from victims of her Ponzi scheme in a brazen attempt to perpetrate another fraud. On Christmas Eve, 2015, Len Wallis, who runs a high-end audio visual store, received a furious call from Melissa Caddick complaining that her family’s newly installed sound system wasn’t working, Caddick refused to pay the last $12,000 of Wallis’s $122,000 bill. Not only that, she told Wallis she was leaving for Aspen the day after Christmas and, because the audio wasn’t working, she claimed she’d been forced to cancel bookings for two tenants who planned to rent her house while she was away. Wallis was stunned to receive a demand for $65,000 in compensation for Caddick’s lost holiday rental, the podcast Liar Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions reveals in its season finale on Monday. Melissa Caddick photographed in the $2500 Dolce & Gabbana dress at friend Kate Horn’s 50th birthday party. Plus excerpts from her rental fraud. “Our home is an income producing asset that we rent out over the lucrative Christmas /New Year and School Holiday periods,” Caddick said in her email. She claimed that due to the failure of the hardware installed by Len Wallis Audio “both of these tenancy’s (sic) needed to be cancelled” and that she had had to reimburse $65,000. She also wrote: “I have attached for your reference Tax Invoices, Tax Receipts, Bank Transaction Credit and Debit Records. You will note for confidentiality purposes I have had to omit the clients private details. “Please confirm that $65,000 will be reimbursed within 14 business days,” said the email. However, the two rental agreements she attached as proof of her loss were forgeries. One of the fraudulent rental tax invoices Melissa Caddick prepared to claim lost income. Caddick did receive the equivalent sums in her bank accounts, but they were not for the rental of her Dover Heights home. The deposits were from two of her victims who thought they were investing in shares. Caddick, 49, vanished in November 2020 within hours of the Federal Police and investigators from the corporate regulator ASIC raiding her house in connection with her theft of $23 million from family and friends. Her partial remains were found in a running shoe at a remote beach three months later. One of Caddick’s employees was adamant that her boss did not like strangers coming into her house. A bank statement from Caddick’s company Maliver showing money transferred out in the names of two investors purporting to be as payment for renting out her house. Having received this letter of demand, Wallis had to hire lawyers and an insurance investigator to dispute Caddick’s claims. Caddick’s claim was denied after the investigator concluded that “it was unfortunately Anthony Koletti’s direct actions in intervening with the equipment that caused the system to fail in its entirety on 24 December 2015.” Melissa Caddick with Anthony Koletti. She is wearing the $2500 Dolce & Gabbana dress she wore to friend Kate Horn’s 50th birthday party. Wallis later provided a brand-new piece of equipment, at no charge, to replace what Koletti had broken. They didn’t hear from Caddick again but neither did they receive their last payment of $12,000. Koletti has declined to speak to the podcast. The final episode of the podcast also reveals the ongoing financial hardship of Caddick’s victims. Only a month before she was unmasked, Caddick insisted on attending her oldest friend’s 50th birthday. Her friend Kate Horn recalls Melissa wearing a garish dress which featured patterns of large jewels. When her daughter later googled the outfit they were shocked that the Dolce and Gabbana dress cost $2500. What the family didn’t know was that Horn’s oldest friend had stolen more than $10 million from her extended family. When Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti later showed Channel 7 through his Dover Heights house, they paused at his wife’s empty wardrobe. All her fancy designer labels had been seized during the raid. All except one. Still hanging in the wardrobe was the Dolce and Gabbana dress she’d worn to her friend’s party. “Being Kate’s best friend…the treachery behind it all is just unbearable,” said Horn’s mother Anne, 78, who has lost her life’s savings as well as her enjoyment of life. “It’s there all the time. It’s sitting at the back of my mind, every minute. Everything you do, you think, can I be affording this? Or should I be doing this? Even grocery shopping. I think before I buy clothes…and no, I won’t have a wine tonight.”
"Trust, but verify". Make that "Don't trust till you verify". As well as don't invest with family no matter what.
She’s Nicole Wallace from Law&Order CI. Just a guess, she’s alive! Jesus said “If your foot makes you stumble, or gets you caught, cut it off! She’s too smart to die, JMHO.
Mr Koletti, partner of Melissa Caddick, has been fighting to keep some of her property as liquidators attempt to seize it to give to her victims. NCA NewsWire / Joel Carrett Credit: News Corp Australia Inside the turbulent life of Anthony Koletti, Melissa Caddick’s ‘toyboy’ husband Lauren FerriNCA NewsWire July 31, 2022 https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/in...tti-melissa-caddicks-toyboy-husband-c-7705584 The husband of notorious Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick has had a turbulent few years since his wife went missing, from having just $1.95 to his name while being kicked out of his home. But this week Anthony Koletti finally had a small victory after police dropped an apprehended violence order against him, which was initially taken out after he produced rap songs blaming the corporate regulator for his wife’s presumed death. Since his wife’s disappearance, the spotlight has shone on Mr Koletti, Ms Caddick’s second husband, former hairdresser, DJ and part-time prawn farmer. The 40-year-old is not accused of any wrongdoing. Husband of Melissa Caddick, Anthony Koletti, has endured a rough few years since his conwoman wife went missing in 2020. Credit: News Corp Australia HAIRDRESSER CAREER Mr Koletti married Ms Caddick in 2013, with some regarding him as a “toyboy” husband. In an affidavit submitted to ASIC in December 2020, Mr Koletti revealed he had no income after quitting his part-time job as a hairdresser. He explained during the early days of the pandemic he and Ms Caddick agreed he would leave his job to reduce health risks and his wife would support him financially. “At that time, (Ms Caddick), who was the primary bread winner in our family, and I had a discussion and agreed that, in order to reduce the health risk to the family, I would cease working and remain at home and attend to household duties, child care, and facilitating after school appointments,” Mr Koletti said in the affidavit. “As a result, I currently do not earn an income.” Mr Koletti had been receiving a $1700 weekly allowance throughout his marriage and was living in Ms Caddick’s $6.2 million clifftop mansion rent-free. At the time of his wife’s disappearance he was unemployed. ASIC INVESTIGATION Ms Caddick’s Dover Heights home was raided in connection with ASIC’s investigation into the $23 million she had stolen from friends and family who believed she was investing shares on their behalf. The corporate watchdog says Ms Caddick misappropriated investor money to fund her lavish lifestyle, with investigators seizing luxury items including jewellery, watches, designer clothing and shoes. ASIC claims Ms Caddick stole from investors in an elaborate Ponzi scheme between 2012 and 2020. ASIC raided Melissa Caddick’s Dover Heights mansion on November 2020. A day later, she went missing. Credit: Supplied It claims she posed as a financial adviser and pretended to invest millions of dollars for clients into fake CommSec portfolios but instead spent the money on herself. The watchdog discovered 74 investors, many of whom were her friends and family, were fleeced by Ms Caddick of $23m. Ms Caddick bought the lavish Dover Heights mansion for $6.2m in 2014 using money misappropriated from clients. There is no suggestion Mr Koletti knew about Ms Caddick’s Ponzi scheme. MISSING WIFE Within hours of the raid, 49-year-old Ms Caddick vanished. She was last seen leaving her Dover Heights home on foot about 5.30am on November 12, 2020. The spotlight shone on Mr Koletti following his wife’s disappearance in 2020. Credit: News Corp Australia Rumours circulated claiming she had either taken her own life, crossed the border into Queensland or sought refuge overseas. The missing conwoman’s decomposed foot was found on a beach near Tathra on the NSW south coast, more than 400km south of Sydney and more than three months after her disappearance. Ms Caddick was declared dead in March 2021. Further remains have not been located and her family said their farewells at a private service in April last year. Mr Koletti was effectively left destitute after his cash-cow wife’s disappearance, telling the Federal Court in December 2020 he was left with just $1.95 to his name. In December 2020, Mr Koletti told the Federal Court he had just $1.95 to his name. Supplied / Federal Court of Australia. Credit: Supplied Mr Koletti appealed to ASIC to be allowed to pay the family’s ongoing living expenses from Ms Caddick’s seized assets. He claimed even “basic health and food requirements will be jeopardised” if the expenses usually covered by Ms Caddick were not paid. “I am concerned that, if the immediate living expenses that would otherwise be paid by (Caddick) are not paid, (child’s name redacted) will not be able to return to his current school to commence his year 10 studies, insurance and security will not be able to be maintained in relation to (Caddick’s) assets, the basic utilities attached to the Dover Height property may not be paid and may be cut off,” he said in an affidavit submitted to the Federal Court. Mr Koletti remained notoriously tight-lipped about his wife’s disappearance, but 11 months after her mysterious disappearance he appeared on Channel 7’s Spotlight program in an exclusive interview. It is believed he was paid for the appearance. Mr Koletti, partner of Melissa Caddick, has been fighting to keep some of her property as liquidators attempt to seize it to give to her victims. NCA NewsWire / Joel Carrett Credit: News Corp Australia ALBUM RELEASE In the months following his wife’s disappearance, Mr Koletti waged a bitter campaign against ASIC and was critical of one of the lead investigators, Isabella Allen. He created an album of music – titled Raid – waging war on ASIC, including baseless claims his wife was tortured and interrogated, under the moniker DJ “Paws Off” on Spotify. The album’s cover art depicts a pair of ASICS running shoes – the same brand in which Caddick’s decomposed foot was found. In the track Good Morning, Mr Koletti samples snoring sounds and mockingly impersonates a police officer saying: “No, no, no, we don’t have any proof or evidence, we’ll just get them. “Yeah they’ve got millions of dollars of jewellery, luxury items, clothes and everything. I can’t wait,” the former hairdresser is heard saying. In Intelligence Artificial, Mr Koletti claims his wife “died as a direct result of an ASIC investigation” and references an ASIC investigator by name. “You can’t hide behind your government job forever,” Mr Koletti says on the track, while referring to the investigator as a “snake or a rat” and saying he will “buy the ugliest thing I can find”. Anthony Koletti released an entire album slamming ASIC and its investigators. Credit: Supplied In Mr Koletti’s recent musical endeavour, “Liar Liars” in May, he continues to lash out at ASIC, the media and a podcast about his wife’s disappearance. WAR AGAINST ASIC Mr Koletti also posted a series of social media posts in which he blamed ASIC for his wife’s presumed death. In a scathing letter to the Federal Court, Mr Koletti denied ASIC’s claims and said: “Melissa lost investor funds trading on the stock market, which is clearly visible through her AustralianCommSec trading account”. Mr Koletti posted a series of social media posts blaming ASIC for his wife’s presumed death. Supplied via 7News Credit: Channel 7 In the same letter, Mr Koletti accused ASIC investigator Ms Allen of ‘severe negligence and inhumane treatment’ of his wife and of being the reason that people may never know if she was murdered or took her life. On the anniversary of Ms Caddick’s disappearance, he put up a poster outside ASIC’s office on Market Street in Sydney’s CBD. “ASIC=womanslaughter,” the poster read. Mr Koletti took to LinkedIn where he frequently posted unfounded accusations suggesting ASIC was responsible for his wife’s death. “An investigator at your company and her team of white collar crooks caused the death of my wife. Put an end to ‘Pre emptive Slaughter’,” he wrote in one post. AVO ALLEGATIONS In February, Ms Allen had grown tired of Mr Koletti’s unfounded claims and police filed an apprehended violence order against him. According to court documents, Ms Allen was fearful that Mr Koletti’s allegedly intimidating behaviour could escalate if he was evicted from the home the couple shared so liquidators could sell it. Anthony Koletti leaves Downing Centre Court in Sydney after one of his appearances over the AVO by lead investigator at ASIC, Isabella Allen. NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw Credit: News Corp Australia In an email to the Federal Court, in which Mr Koletti copied in Ms Allen and the liquidators, he slammed the AVO and claimed it was an “attempt to defame” his character. He also claimed police were trying to hinder his musical rights. Mr Koletti had multiple court appearances at the Downing Centre Local Court since February regarding the AVO. However, ahead of a scheduled appearance on Friday, it was revealed police had dropped the order. BOOTED FROM HOME The Federal Court ordered Mr Koletti to vacate his late wife’s multimillion-dollar home with just a couple of weeks’ notice as liquidators were successful in seizing the property. Federal Court Justice Brigitte Markovic ordered him to vacate the Dover Heights mansion on or before May 18. “Anthony Koletti is to be granted liberty to apply on two days’ written notice in respect of any dispute regarding the removal of personal property items from the Dover Heights property,” Justice Markovic said. Melissa Caddick’s home at Dover Heights is being prepared for sale. Adam Yip Credit: News Corp Australia Two weeks prior to the ruling, Mr Koletti submitted a statement to the court demanding full ownership of five paintings by Australian artist John Olsen, Ms Caddick’s Gucci wedding dress, several items of 18 carat gold jewellery including his own wedding band, a Louis Vuitton digital watch valued at almost $5,000 and a diamond ring worth $33,960. In the statement submitted to the court, Mr Koletti claims his financial contribution to the household between 2017-2020, such as performing duties as a homemaker and caring for his wife’s son, meant he was entitled to some of Ms Caddick’s assets. He is seeking a cut from the sale of the $15-17 million Dover Heights house, the three-bedroom apartment in Edgecliff worth about $4 million, various luxury cars already sold for $360,000 and $7 million in shares. Mr Koletti left the home on May 18 after the Federal Court ordered him to vacate. Adam Yip Credit: News Corp Australia When he was leaving the home on May 18 for a two-bedroom apartment in the neighbouring suburb of Vaucluse, Mr Koletti told Channel 7 he had been planning legal action against the corporate regulator. “I’m going to sue them for everything they’ve got,” he said. “Look, I’d be happy with a few million dollars so that I can get on in my life … Yeah, a few million dollars would do that.” MANSION FOR SALE As multiple real estate agents battle to sell the luxurious Dover Heights mansion, it has been revealed Ms Caddick did not bother maintaining the home. The home is now valued at around $15 million but the missing conwoman nabbed it for $6.2 million in 2014. Liquidator Bruce Gleeson this week told the Federal Court “lots of work” needs to be done before it can be placed on the market. The court was told Mr Koletti also left a “number of items” at the property when he left in late May, which delayed efforts to get it on the market. “On May 27 2022, I obtained a quote for the storage of the items left at the property and cleaning,” Mr Gleeson’s statement said. “The Receivers have not yet approved the quote for the cleaning as the remaining chattels need to be removed first.” An inquest into Caddick’s presumed death will begin on September 12.
Caddick’s husband was suspected over disappearance, inquest told Greta Stonehouse Sep 12, 2022 https://www.afr.com/companies/finan...er-disappearance-inquest-told-20220912-p5bhie A day after fraudster Melissa Caddick vanished, her husband was suspected of being involved in her mysterious disappearance, her inquest has been told. Louise Coleman, junior counsel assisting the inquest, said on Monday that three police officers who took Anthony Koletti’s missing person’s report held concerns about the accounts he provided. Sergeant Trent Riley wrote in July 2021 that Mr Koletti told him “several lies, [and] that his story had changed multiple times”. Anthony Koletti arrives at the coronial inquest into the presumed death of his wife Melissa Caddick. Nick Moir Mr Koletti is due to give evidence at his wife’s inquest and was present at the NSW Coroners Court in Sydney, as well as her parents Barbara and Ted Grimley and brother Adam Grimley. An expert report examining barnacles on Ms Caddick’s washed-up shoe concluded it spent no more than one week and no less than two to three days floating in the ocean, the inquest was told. While Ms Caddick is suspected to be dead, a forensic pathologist could not determine whether the foot found in her shoe was separated due to blunt force, sharp force or decomposition before it washed ashore at Bournda Beach on the NSW South Coast. However, it was “very unlikely that Ms Caddick amputated her own foot”, with or without the assistance of a non-medically trained individual, to stage her disappearance, Ms Coleman told Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan. Other areas to be explored include her diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder and some criticism of the NSW police investigation. A crime scene was not established until 19 days after she was reported missing. The Australian Federal Police and Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided her Dover Heights home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on November 11, 2020. That was the last verified sighting of Ms Caddick. Some 28 hours after Mr Koletti says his wife left the house to go for a walk or jog, he reported her missing to police. Attending officers found Mr Koletti on November 13 in a “composed, relaxed and seemingly uncaring persona … unlike any other person I had taken a missing person report from previously”. Ms Caddick’s mother says her daughter was not offered food or drink during the full duration of the search warrant and holds ASIC responsible for her suspected death, the inquest was told. Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick disappeared in November 2020. But this has been disputed, as Ms Caddick at the time was not under arrest, allowed to walk freely and leave if she wished, was not observed to be showing any signs of mental ill-health, and made herself a protein shake in the morning. In late 2012, Ms Caddick’s marriage to Tony Caddick dissolved following her affair with Mr Koletti, who was her hairdresser. She purportedly referred to a Sydney suicide spot when telling her brother Adam at about this time: “If it all gets too much for me you’ll find me at The Gap.” Another friend said Ms Caddick made her write down a four-letter code she was instructed to give Adam if she went missing. By late 2020, her friends say Ms Caddick was under extreme financial pressure and on one occasion walked to the Dover Heights cliffs. “If I’m going to end it, it’s going to be here,” one friend recalls Ms Caddick telling her. Her victims, mostly family and friends, lost between $20 million and $30 million through her Ponzi scheme, which funded her lavish lifestyle and excessive spending on expensive jewellery, designer clothing, overseas getaways and multimillion-dollar homes. Her clients believed she would invest their life savings on their behalf, and she created fake documents to suggest she had done so. Whether Ms Caddick knew about the ASIC investigation will also be scrutinised, as she booked shredding services in September 2020, three months before she vanished. AAP
The Gap is an ocean cliff on the South Head peninsula in eastern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The area, which faces the Tasman Sea, is located in the eastern suburb of Watsons Bay, in the Municipality of Woollahra, near South Head. Although the cliff is a popular visitor destination, it has an infamy for suicides. Wiki