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The case of missing suspected conwoman Melissa Caddick has sparked a new investigation from the specialist New South Wales police unit that deals with fraud and scammers.
While Caddick’s disappearance – along with missing millions from clients of her ‘wealth management’ company Maliver – has so far been a missing person case, an announcement is expected confirming that the Financial Crimes Squad will now run a separate investigation, reports suggest.
Caddick was last seen on November 11 when her $6.1million Dover Heights home was raided by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) over allegations she had used another person’s financial services licence to run her business.
Melissa Caddick (pictured) during the raid of her home by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission on November 11
Caddick (pictured here with husband Anthony Koletti), who allegedly pocketed more than $20million from investors, lived a lavish lifestyle
ASIC had been investigating her for three months before the raid.
Claims have since been made that Caddick swindled millions from clients – including friends and family – and ASIC documents show she owned luxury cars, travelled widely and splurged hundreds of thousands of dollars on high end fashion labels including Chanel, Dior, Louis Vuitton and Oscar de la Renta.
She spent $229,277 on Dior alone in less than three years.
There are also suggestions that Caddick’s husband, hairdresser Anthony Koletti, did not fully inform police about her final movements, initially claiming she had gone for a run on the morning of November 12. There is no suggestion that Koletti had knowledge of the alleged fraud.
Police now believe Caddick may have fled after the raid.
Her husband Anthony Koletti in conversation with the family at their home on February 7. On right, his father-in-law Ted, potters around the balcony
The Financial Crimes Squad is one of eight specialist units under the New South Wales State Crime Command.
‘The missing person strike force will still be run out of the eastern suburbs but it will focus on finding out what happened to Melissa,’ an officer told The Daily Telegraph. said.
‘The fraud investigation would focus on the alleged offences. It makes sense for financial crimes to be involved. They have the relationships with ASIC and banking sector.’
It works primarily on cybercrime and scams and according to the police website it ‘drives the NSW Police Force response to fraud, identity crime, motor vehicle theft/re-birthing and arson.’
The offences NSW detectives are expected to look at include dishonestly obtaining advantage by deception and forgery, according to the source.
Caddick is pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti. He handed over five passports in her name after she disappeared
During the raid of her Dover Heights home by ASIC, Caddick allegedly demanded answers on how she was to abide by a court order freezing her assets
Police looked into 50 tip offs about where Caddick could be in an investigation spanning four states – but came up empty handed.
A police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia no new sightings had been reported.
In January NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller all but confirmed that investigators believe Caddick is alive and on the run.
‘We are treating the case as she is still alive,’ the commissioner told Radio 2GB’s Ben Fordham breakfast program.
The corporate watchdog alleges she would open up fake CommSec accounts for her clients and send them fake monthly reports of how their shares were going.
One investor’s report, provided to Daily Mail Australia, shows him raking in an astronomical 257 per cent return on Macquarie Bank shares.
ASIC’s investigation found Caddick spent an enormous amount of luxury clothes, overseas travel and even protein shakes.
On her American Express card alone, Caddick allegedly spent $229,277 at Dior, $187,000 at Canturi Jewellers, $48,000 at Chanel and $52,548 at Cosmopolitan shoes.
Caddick, wearing a $250,000 Stefano Canturi necklace, with her husband Mr Koletti on her birthday this year. He is not suggested to have played any role in her disappearance. On right, Caddick is seen during a helicopter ride
Melissa Caddick’s $6.1million Dover Heights home has come into focus after being raided
The documents also reveal how Caddick also splurged on holidays to Fiji, New York and Aspen.
In a sworn statement tendered at the Federal Court, and newly made public, investigator Isabella Allen alleges that Caddick hit her with a barrage of questions when authorities raided her $6.2million Dover Heights mansion on November 11.
Caddick allegedly demanded answers on how she was to abide by a court order freezing her assets.
Those questions include: When would she have to appear in court? Where would she drop off her passports? Did one order mean she couldn’t use her credit cards, because she used them for all transactions?
Did she have to write up a description of her assets and liabilities by the following Monday, and ‘how am I supposed to do that when you have taken my computers?’ she allegedly spluttered.
Mr Koletti with his $300,000 Audi R8 at McMahon’s Point on Sydney’s lower north shore. He and his wife were known for their extravagant lifestyle, but Mr Koletti is not suggested to have had knowledge of Caddick’s alleged financial misappropriation
Mr Koletti with Caddick’s brother Adam Grimley during their only press conference about her disappearance
The investigator replied: ‘I am unable to answer that question and it may be best that you speak to a lawyer. Do you have a lawyer?’
According to Nine’s 60 Minutes program Mr Koletti joined Caddick’s the family – her brother, Adam, and parents Ted and Barbara – at her parents’ apartment in Sydney’s east for about two hours in early February.
‘They were having an animated discussion,’ an observer said. Adam shut the blinds of the family’s sunroom after realising media were nearby.
Caddick’s husband Anthony Koletti did not tell police or her family that she was missing for more than 30 hours. There is no suggestion he was involved in her disappearance or alleged fraud
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