Missing conwoman Melissa Caddick and her husband Anthony Koletti. Photo / Facebook
Missing conwoman Melissa Caddick and her husband Anthony Koletti. Photo / Facebook
One of Melissa Caddick's investors who helped lift the lid on her multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme says she cut off contact with the fraudster after discovering concerns she may have been doing something "dishonest" and "illegal".
Caddick vanished from her luxury home in Sydney's eastern suburbs just hours after she was raided by police and corporate regulator ASIC.
An inquest is examining her presumed death after a shoe containing a foot, which was later matched to the 49-year-old, washed up on a NSW South Coast beach three months after she went missing.
The court has heard in November 2019 and June 2020, a financial advisor contacted ASIC to report that Caddick was using her Australian Financial Services Licence number to run her company, Maliver.
The woman then had a chance encounter with one of Caddick's investors, Dominique Ogilvie, inside a dentist's office, in mid-2020.
"The way she spoke in the waiting room alarmed me," Ogilvy said on Tuesday.
At her home, the woman informed Ogilvie that Caddick was using her Australian Financial Services Licence number without her permission.
"She said 'she's using my number without my permission illegally'," Ogilvie told the court.
Ogilvie then rang Caddick to tell her that she was withdrawing her funds, claiming to her that she needed the money to buy a house.
In August 2020, Caddick returned Ogilvie's money along with A$382,000 in purported profits, with ASIC beginning their investigation in early September.
"I just felt so nervous that Melissa was doing something dishonest and not legal… I need to look after my own affairs, so that's what I did," Ogilvie said.
The court heard previously that Ogilvie was interviewed by ASIC on September 14, 2020, with the court hearing Caddick hired a shredding company to dispose of documents the following day - though ASIC investigators have denied the two events are linked.
Ogilvie said she never contacted Caddick after she withdrew her funds in August and did not return her phone calls or texts.
Asked whether she had any communications or discussions with Caddick about the ASIC investigation, Ogilvie said "never".
Melissa Caddick walked out the door of her Dover Heights home on November 12, 2020 never to be seen again. Photo / Joel Carrett, NCA NewsWire
Meanwhile, Caddick's husband, Anthony Koletti will take the witness stand on Tuesday.
The court has heard that her family heard Caddick walk out her door early on the morning of November 12, 2020 and she was never seen again.
The CCTV system at her home was seized during the raid on November 11 and did not capture her walking out her door or which direction she headed.
The court has heard that Caddick's mother, Barbara Grimley, had pointed the finger at ASIC in relation to Caddick's death, while Koletti, a part-time DJ, had made similar accusations.
In his music, referred to in court, under the name Paws Off, Koletti claimed that she was deprived of water and food during the ASIC and AFP raid on their home on November 11.
The court heard on Monday that in June 2021, lead ASIC investigator Isabella Allen was accused by Caddick's brother, Adam Grimley, of having caused the fraudster's death.
Allen on Monday told the court that Grimley said to her: "How do you feel about being responsible for Melissa's death?"
Asked whether she felt responsible, Allen said: "No, I was doing my job." She also described the claims as "fictitious" and "fantasy".
ASIC and AFP investigators have told the court that Caddick was allowed to roam freely, offered food and drink, allowed to go to the toilet and that she was on occasions seen filing her nails.
Caddick also took a nap during the afternoon.
"I didn't physically see her sleep, but she asked people to leave the room so she could take a nap," Ms Allen said, adding that she was also offered food.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan continues.
