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Melissa Caddick orchestrated one of the most brazen financial frauds in Australian history, defrauding more than 70 investors out of over A$23 million. Operating under the guise of a financial adviser, she exploited trust, faked legitimacy, and used personal relationships to sustain her deception for nearly a decade.
The Scheme
From 2012 to 2020, Melissa Caddick operated an elaborate Ponzi scheme under the banner of her company, Maliver Pty Ltd. Presenting herself as a highly qualified and licensed financial adviser, she preyed on the trust of those closest to her—friends, family members, and acquaintances—convincing them to invest their savings with the promise of consistent, high returns through supposedly secure, blue-chip investment portfolios.Caddick’s presentation was polished and convincing. She provided investors with meticulously crafted reports, complete with forged letterheads, logos, and documentation from well-known financial institutions such as CommSec. These statements falsely showed steady growth and detailed fake trades, dividends, and balances that gave clients the impression that their money was being expertly managed.
In truth, Caddick was not licensed to operate as a financial adviser. None of the investments existed. The money entrusted to her was funneled directly into personal accounts and used to fund an extravagant lifestyle. She purchased multimillion-dollar homes, drove luxury cars, wore designer labels, indulged in high-end beauty treatments, and took international vacations.
To sustain the illusion, she continuously recruited new investors. Funds from fresh victims were used to pay returns to earlier ones, creating the impression of profitability—a textbook example of a Ponzi scheme designed to delay detection for as long as possible.
Discovery and Disappearance
In November 2020, Melissa Caddick’s elaborate Ponzi scheme collapsed when the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), supported by the Australian Federal Police, executed a search warrant at her multimillion-dollar home in Dover Heights, Sydney. The raid was the result of months of investigation into suspicious activity involving her financial services company, Maliver Pty Ltd. Authorities seized documents, computers, and other potential evidence—much of it revealing the depth of her deception.Less than 24 hours after the raid, Caddick disappeared without a trace. She left behind her teenage son, her husband, and all signs of her affluent lifestyle. Her sudden vanishing ignited a media frenzy and widespread speculation. Some believed she had taken her own life; others suspected she had faked her death and escaped.
For weeks, searches yielded no results. Then, in February 2021, joggers discovered a decomposing foot inside a running shoe on a beach roughly 400 kilometers south of Sydney. DNA analysis confirmed it belonged to Melissa Caddick. The grim discovery only deepened the mystery.
A coroner’s inquest concluded that she was deceased but could not determine how or when she died. With no witnesses and minimal remains recovered, the circumstances of her disappearance remain one of Australia’s most enduring and controversial mysteries.
Aftermath and Restitution
In the wake of Melissa Caddick’s disappearance and presumed death, Australian authorities initiated an extensive effort to recover funds and assets to repay defrauded investors. Court-appointed receivers began seizing property, bank accounts, and luxury items connected to her fraudulent business operations. At the center of these efforts was her Dover Heights mansion, a clifftop property with panoramic views, which eventually sold for $9.8 million—a significant sum but still only a fraction of what she had stolen.In addition to the home, a wide array of high-end goods was recovered, including designer handbags, custom-made jewelry, expensive artwork, luxury vehicles, and clothing. These items were sold off at auction, attracting high interest due to the media attention surrounding the case.
Despite these efforts, full restitution was never possible. On average, victims recovered about 32 cents for every dollar lost. Some individuals lost their life savings, with no possibility of recouping the emotional and financial damage caused by Caddick’s betrayal.
Further relief came through a class-action lawsuit targeting the external auditors and financial service providers linked to Maliver Pty Ltd. The claim alleged negligence and failure to identify obvious signs of fraud. The settlement reached was valued at several million dollars and distributed among dozens of victims, offering some closure to those caught in the fallout of her deception.