Melissa Caddick’s father-in-law said he won’t accept the conwoman is dead until three crucial questions about her 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?’
Sydney conwoman Melissa Caddick (pictured with her husband Anthony Koletti) allegedly defrauded more than $25million from scores of investors
Caddick, pictured with her husband Anthony who is not accused of wrongdoing
Caddick’s decomposed foot in a rare Asics shoe was found 400km away from her home on Bournda Beach on February 21
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.
Mr Koletti’s candid revelation comes two weeks after 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.
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.
Caddick pictured at a black tie event with husband Anthony Koletti, wearing necklace which is reportedly valued at $250,000
ASIC dropped all charges against Caddick and has withdrawn the warrant for her arrest
ASIC is also seeking the Edgecliff penthouse where Ms 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.
Caddick blew her victims’ money on luxury items and lavish 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.
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.
‘[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.
