The one woman who was too smart for missing millionaire Melissa Caddick - and the very subtle mistake that saw her $250,000 'scam' come undone
An eagle-eyed potential investor escaped financial ruin after becoming suspicious of the account a missing millionaire provided to make a $250,000 deposit.
Melissa Caddick, 49, has not been seen since she left her home at Dover Heights, in Sydney's east, on November 12 - just two days after authorities raided her home and seized her assets.
She is the subject of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation after allegedly defrauding investors of more than $13million in savings.
More than 60 devastated clients who told ASIC they handed over their cash to Ms Caddick now fear they may never get their precious life earnings back.
Melissa Caddick hasn't been seen since disappearing from her Dover Heights home more than a month ago
But one woman and her husband were able to walk away unscathed after the wife suspected the financial adviser was running a scam, a court has heard.
The Perth-based woman, now known as Witness A in ASIC's commission case, described her account in an affidavit tendered to the Federal Court of Australia this week, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Witness A said her and her husband, known as Witness B, were introduced to Ms Caddick in mid-2019 by a 'good friend', a surgeon, who had met the financial adviser through a colleague, the affidavit said.
The surgeon told Witness B Ms Caddick had 'doubled' his colleague's investments within 12 months and her services were exclusive, only taking on new clients if others dropped out.
Interested, Witness B contacted Ms Caddick who said she could generate a 20-30 per cent profit per year and would require a $250,000 deposit.
But his wife had 'concerns that the account Ms Caddick has asked for the initial transfer to be made did not look like a trust account,' the affidavit said.
Ms Caddick (pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti) is the subject of an Australian Securities and Investments Commission investigation into her business Maliver and misappropriation of funds
Witness A started doing research into Ms Caddick's company, conducting an ASIC search on her ABN, ACN and the Australian Financial Services Licence number she provided, consequently learning her company Maliver had no current licence.
When she contacted the companies linked to the AFSL numbers, Witness A was told none were associated with Ms Caddick, the document states.
Witness A called Ms Caddick, who said her husband would have access to the CommSec account that would be opened in his name, but when she checked with the bank she was told a third party should not be given access, the affidavit said.
CommSec told her this meant a third party, or Ms Caddick, should not be trading on their behalf using an account with their name on it.
After becoming aware of this information, the couple decided against transferring Ms Caddick their money.
Witness A had started probing the matter on September 17 last year and the husband and wife last made contact with Ms Caddick just over a month later on October 19.
The ASIC investigation was launched almost a year later, on September 8, after a concerned investor contacted the corporate watchdog.
This is the forged CommSec share trading document an investor claims Melissa Caddick sent to them, showing that they had made a 257 per cent return on Macquarie Bank holdings
Ms Caddick had been the sole shareholder and director of Maliver and her disappearance has the job of securing investors' money more difficult.
She is accused of misusing tens of millions from investors in Maliver, which included a syndicate of Perth doctors.
The revelation follows bombshell claims in court documents that millions in investors' funds was deposited into Ms Caddick's bank accounts over a two-and-a-half year period.
WHAT MELISSA CADDICK ALLEGEDLY SPENT MONEY ON
Court documents obtained by Daily Mail Australia break down how Ms Caddick spent her millions.
According to an affidavit by an ASIC investigator, expenses from her American Express account alone from December 2017 to August 2020 include:
$187.650 Canturi Jewels
$48,588 Chanel
$52,584 Cosmopolitan Shoes
$229,277.84 Dior
$45,600.85 FarFetch
$17,777.23 Louis Vuitton
$39,757.69 Net A Porter
$14,180.19 Valentino
$48,303.28 Stockx
$$108.586.45 'Flight Centre'
She's then accused of splurging on luxury brands such as Dior and Chanel, overseas holidays, limousines and even protein shakes.
An affidavit seen by Daily Mail Australia states that $20 million of investors funds were deposited into her accounts between January 2018 and September 18, 2020.
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 Ms Caddick spent an enormous amount of luxury clothes, overseas travel and even protein shakes.
On her American Express card alone, Ms Caddick allegedly spent $229,277 at Dior, $187,000 at Canturi Jewellers, $48,000 at Chanel and $52,548 at Cosmopolitan shoes.
The documents also reveal how Ms Caddick also splurged on holidays to Fiji, New York and Aspen.
Victims of Ms Caddick's alleged fraudulent activity believe she faked her disappearance as authorities closed in on her.
Her husband Anthony Koletti and teenaged son reportedly heard her leave the house for a run on the morning of November 12, later discovering she had left her phone and wallet at home.
NSW Police are examining several lines of inquiry.