The husband of fraudster Melissa Caddick has agreed to vacate a $15m property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs that she bought with funds stolen from investors so that it may be sold.
Caddick falsely claimed to be a financial adviser to swindle $23m from investors before she vanished in November 2020.
Caddick’s Ponzi scheme was under investigation by the financial services watchdog Asic at the time of her disappearance. Her partial remains washed up on a beach on the New South Wales south coast three months later.
The federal court heard on Tuesday that Caddick’s husband, Anthony Koletti, would vacate the Dover Heights property the couple lived in with Caddick’s son by 18 May.
Receivers appointed by the court are hoping to sell the property and other assets of Caddick to recoup the losses of those who invested with her company, Maliver.
Caddick falsified the account records of her investors to make it appear as if their share portfolios had drastically increased in value, leading to some of them investing more money or referring other clients to her. But no investments had ever been made.
Koletti will be able to dispute the removal of any personal property from the house under the orders made by Justice Brigitte Markovic on Tuesday.
According to a document filed as part of the case by Koletti’s lawyers, he is seeking a court order that would grant him certain property, including five John Olsen paintings, a Gucci wedding dress, and cash and jewellery worth almost $100,000.
He also claims an interest in the Dover Heights property, which his concise statement says has been assessed as worth from $15m to $17m by real estate agents, an Edgecliff property worth $4m, $7m in shares and $2.3m in other property including cars.
There is a $4m mortgage on the Dover Heights property and $1m mortgage on the Edgecliff property, which is occupied by Caddick’s parents.
In a statement filed to the court, Caddick’s parents, Barbara and Edward Caddick, say they gave their daughter almost $1.2m to buy the Edgecliff property in 2016, and she was to pay the remainder of the $2.5m purchase price. Caddick had told their parents that $1m of their money would be used to pay off the mortgage, but they discovered after her disappearance that she had not done so.
The Caddicks continue to live in the property and are cooperating with receivers, the court heard on Tuesday.
The case will return to court in September. Caddick’s disappearance and suspected death will be investigated by the NSW coroner at an inquest which willl also start that month.
