• e-mail

The husband of missing fraudster Melissa Caddick is still living in luxury at her Sydney mansion, nine months after she disappeared.

Anthony Koletti, a former hairdresser, doesn't have to pay a cent towards the $19,000-a-month mortgage on the Dover Heights clifftop home.

He is free to live in the $7 million house until the Federal Court rules that it can be sold to repay some of the $30 million Caddick swindled from investors.

Mr Koletti was spotted in Rose Bay on Thursday, having downgraded to a cheaper Audi car model as his $300,000 Audi R8 was seized by receivers, along with his wife's Mercedes.

Husband of conwoman Melissa Caddick, Anthony Koletti (pictured) , is still living in her $7 million Sydney mansion nine months after her disappearance

He is free to live in the $7 million house until the Federal Court rules that it can be sold to repay some of the $30 million Caddick swindled from investors 

There is no suggestion the 38-year-old knew his wife was defrauding investors.     

In an affidavit, Mr Koletti said he was a part-time hairdresser until Covid hit last year, when it was decided his wife would be the primary breadwinner. 

It was agreed with ASIC the $1,700 weekly allowance being paid to Mr Koletti would end in February this year after outcry from investors Caddick ripped off.

They were concerned any money left would be spent on lawyers and living expenses for Mr Koletti and his 16-year-old stepson.

Provisional liquidators Bruce Gleeson and Daniel Soire uncovered fraudulent documents she used to trick 72 investors into believing she was a financial planner. 

The financial mess remains on hold until Federal Court judge Brigitte Markovic rules on whether liquidators will be appointed to Caddick’s private assets, as well as assets held by her company Maliver. 

There is no suggestion that the 38-year-old (pictured) knew about his wife defrauding investors

Caddick, who went missing after ASIC raided her home (pictured) in November 2020 is now presumed dead after a rotting foot washed up on a Sydney beach in February

The court also has to determine whether liquidators will be confirmed before or after an inquest is held to decide whether Caddick is dead, after her decomposing foot washed up on a NSW beach in February.

Caddick disappeared for three months and was presumed to be on the run until the foot was found, prompting police to declare her dead.

The missing conwoman had a decades-long history of fraud and dishonesty, somehow evading consequences for her crimes every time.

With charm, designer handbags and a silver tongue she was able to fool friends, family, and even her mother and rob them blind, a Sydney Morning Herald investigation found.

Her first known swindle was petty embezzlement in 1998, and worked up to $23 million in vanished investments - which finally did her in.

On November 11, 2020, investigators from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission raided home after she was found to be operating a financial services business without a valid licence.

It was the last night she was seen alive.   

A lack of credible witnesses and an absence of CCTV footage means the glamorous conwoman's disappearance may never be solved

Caddick vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC raided her luxury $6.1million home in Dover Heights, Sydney, on November 11 last year. Pictured: the ASIC raid

Her crime was a Ponzi scheme involving 60 friends and family, totaling $30 million - only $7 million of which was ever repayed. The rest vanished.

But her history as a serial thief and fraudster goes back decades, beginning in 1998, before either of her marriages.

Then 27, she forged her boss's signature on four cheques only six months into a job at a small Sydney investment firm.

She was caught before too long, but allowed to resign and leave immediately without police being called, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Caddick, then known as Melissa Grimley, was 27 years old and didn't even have to repay the $2,000 she'd stolen.

Caddick's decomposed foot in a rare Asics shoe was found 400km away from her home on Bournda Beach on February 21 

Melissa Caddick learned early about the importance of presenting the appearance of success - and it appears to have been a part of her modus operandi, allowing her to convince unwitting victims to 'invest' with her - only for her to keep most of the money. She is pictured with husband Anthony Koletti - who is not suspected of any wrongdoing

Creating an impression of success became an essential part of the conwoman's modus operandi.

Her immaculate presentation was designed to ensure people saw her as professional and overlooked her habitual dishonesty.

When ASIC investigators raided Caddick in November, they confiscated dozens of expensive designer label dresses, handbags, and shoes. 

Her scams began to unravel when a client did due diligence on documents provided to them and the woman whose Australian financial services licence she used notified ASIC - which is believed to have been November 2019.

ASIC recorded the complaint but took no action at that time.

Another complaint in June 2020 contained more detail and ASIC applied to the Federal Court to freeze her assets and seize her passport. 

ASIC raided her home five months later, and Caddick promptly disappeared to permanently evade justice.

It was claimed Anthony Koletti and Melissa Caddick began an affair in France while she was still married to Tony Caddick  

Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick (pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti) allegedly defrauded more than $25million from scores of investors. He is not accused of any wrongdoing

Melissa Caddick's father-in-law says there are still three questions about the fraudster's disappearance he wants answered before he accepts she's dead - and reveals what he REALLY thinks about his hairdresser son 

By Alana Mazzoni and Tita Smith for Daily Mail Australia

Melissa Caddick's father-in-law said he won't accept the conwoman is dead until three crucial questions about her mysterious disappearance are answered. 

Caddick, who allegedly defrauded more than $25million from scores of investors including friends and family, vanished the day after corporate watchdog ASIC raided her luxury $6.1million home in Dover Heights, Sydney, on November 11 last year. 

A foot washed ashore three months later on the NSW south coast and was confirmed to be Caddick's after a DNA match was made, however police have been hesitant to confirm the missing conwoman is actually dead.

The 49-year-old's father-in-law, tax agent Rodo Koletti, has been probed by police who are preparing a statement for the coroner. 

When asked by officers if he believed Caddick was dead, Mr Koletti responded: 'I do not feel police have to date provided enough information for me to form an opinion one way or the other if Melissa is dead.

'How much of the mysterious foot was found in the shoe, how was it severed, how do they explain that forensic scientists stated that it was unlikely the shoe had been in the ocean for less than two weeks?' 

Caddick, pictured with her husband Anthony who is not accused of wrongdoing

Mr Koletti, whose son Anthony was married to Caddick for seven years, said the couple were 'happily married'.

He also said his son didn't have any business prowess, and wouldn't have been aware of his wife's alleged fraudulence.

'Even if Melissa's business documents were sitting on the kitchen table in front of Anthony he would not know what he was looking at. He doesn‘t have the business capacity to know what a financial scheme is,' Mr Koletti told The Daily Telegraph.  

Anthony and Caddick's son are still living in her Dover Heights mansion, which could soon be seized pending a federal court decision, to be sold to help repay her alleged victims.  

ASIC is also seeking the Edgecliff penthouse where Caddick's parents live, which is under the fraudster's name. 

ASIC dropped all charges against Caddick and has withdrawn the warrant for her arrest.  

The commission would not reveal whether this is confirmation that Caddick is definitely dead.

'It is not for ASIC to determine if, or speculate on whether, Ms Caddick is alive. That is a matter for the NSW Police and - should it come to that - a coroner,' a spokesman previously said.

Liquidators say the mother-of-one 'meticulously and systematically' deceived those who entrusted millions of investment dollars to her over seven years, then used the money to fund her lavish lifestyle. 

Caddick blew her victims' money on luxury items and overseas trips with the authorities confiscating high end fashion label handbags, shoes and clothes during the raid.

A lack of credible witnesses and an absence of CCTV footage means her disappearance may never be solved.

Two forensic experts have raised a theory that Caddick may have died elsewhere before being moved closer to Bournda beach, where her foot and trainer were discovered

More than 50 possible sightings were reported to NSW Police in the weeks after her disappearance but none were solid leads. 

Two forensic experts have raised a theory that Caddick may have died elsewhere before being moved closer to Bournda beach, where her foot and trainer were discovered.

The south coast beach is more than 400km from where Caddick was last seen at her lavish Dover Heights home in Sydney.

'That is remarkable but it can happen,' said Professor John Hilton, a forensic pathologist said.

Earlier this month, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said authorities were unable to say whether she killed herself or if there was foul play involved.

He also raised the possibility Ms Caddick could have severed her own foot to throw police off the scent - and that she could still be alive.

'There's always a chance she cut her foot off and is still alive, though it's pretty fanciful,' he told 2GB on March 8. 

One theory to explain her disappearance has been that Caddick jumped from the Dover Heights clifftops after making the short 300m walk from her home. 

The route is not covered by CCTV cameras and led police to initially suspect she had taken her own life.

But Mr Fuller said many people jumped from those cliffs without their remains washing up several hundred kilometers away.

Caddick blew her victims' money on luxury items and overseas trips with the authorities confiscating high end fashion label handbags, shoes and clothes during the raid. Pictured with husband Anthony Koletti 

'[It's not common to see] body parts wash up so far south of Sydney and in such good condition given she went missing on or about November 11,' he said.

'Not to say it can't happen. The coroner will make further determinations.'

He said the limited decomposition of the shoe would indicate it had not been out in the ocean for the entire three-month period since she went missing.

Earlier this month Caddick was farewelled in a private service with only a handful of mourners in attendance.

Caddick's husband, her parents Barbara and Ted Grimley, and her brother Adam Grimley gathered with friends at the West Chapel, in Matraville, on April 6 to say their goodbyes. 

Anthony led the procession out of the chapel alongside the funeral director, who helped him carry a bouquet of flowers to put in the boot of his black Mercedes, as the Grimleys followed behind.   

Although a death certificate is yet to be obtained, her foot has been cremated.