“I think it’s appropriate for me to say at the outset that I have come to the conclusion that Melissa Caddick is deceased,” Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan said today.
“However, a more problematic issue is whether there is enough evidence of how he died.”
The full-length forensic examination delved into the circumstances leading up to the 49-year-old Sydney fraudster’s disappearance in November 2020 and his mindset at the time.
Caddick’s badly decomposed right foot in a running shoe washed up on a beach on the south coast of New South Wales three months after she went missing, leading authorities to assume she was dead.
Police and investigators from corporate regulator ASIC raided Caddick’s home in Dover Heights on November 11, 2020.
Two days later, her husband, Anthony Kolleti, reported her missing.
The investigation heard from several key witnesses, including Koletti, a part-time hairdresser and DJ, who told the court that he had no knowledge of his Ponzi scheme.
The officer in charge of the investigation into his disappearance, Detective Sergeant Michael Foscholo, told the inquiry last year that he believed the fraudster took his own life.
Infamous Caddick necklace sells after ‘frantic’ bidding
Caddick, a self-proclaimed financial adviser, took advantage primarily of friends and family to steal up to $30 million through her investment scam, using the money to finance her lavish lifestyle before disappearing.
His mansion in the eastern suburbs sold for close to $10 million in January.
A jewelry collection, once owned by the scammer, has also attracted large sums, with a recent auction netting $800,000 to go to pay off victims.
Ryan’s findings continue.