Melissa Caddick’s mansion in state of disrepair, court documents reveal

Despite scamming millions of dollars from her unsuspecting friends and family members, Melissa Caddick did little to maintain her luxury Dover Heights home, new court documents reveal.

It can also be revealed that her husband, Anthony Koletti, had less than $2 in his bank account only weeks after his wife disappeared.

Documents tendered to the Federal Court this week help fill in missing elements in the missing person’s case that’s captivated much of Australia.

Caddick, 49, disappeared from her home in Sydney’s affluent east on the morning of November 12, 2020.

Only hours earlier, her living room had hosted members of the Australian Federal Police and ASIC investigators, probing whether the investment company she ran was defrauding its clients.

Victim statements and court hearings would conclude that 74 investors had been conned out of $23 million, with liquidators now appointed to recoup the missing money.

The possession expected to fetch the most is the mansion in Wallangra Road, Dover Heights.

It was bought in 2014 for $6.2 million but could today fetch upwards of $10 million.

Nine real estate agents are now lining up to vie for the chance to put it on the market – but there’s a fresh roadblock.

In an affidavit filed to the Federal Court at the end of June and published this week, Jones Partners, Caddick’s receivers and liquidators of her company Maliver Pty Ltd, described the property as being in a state of disrepair.

“From my attendances at the Dover Heights Property and photographs taken, I noticed various issues that looked to require repairs and/or maintenance,” the affidavit from Jones Partners principal Bruce Gleeson read.

“Following consultation with the Managing Agent, and with a view to maximising the sale value of the Dover Heights Property by ensuring its condition was sound, I obtained two quotes for a Building and Pest Report and proceeded with one of those quotes to obtain a Building and Pest Report and a Technical Report.”

The report, lodged on June 8, found that the home had a “number of building and maintenance issues”.

Gleeson continued that, to maximise the property’s value at auction, quotes have been sought to “undertake those repairs as soon as possible”.

His affidavit also said there were several belongings remaining at the property after it was vacated by Koletti, though it did not elaborate on what they were.

Some were collected to be sold, while others will be returned to Caddick’s family.

Further complicating the sale is the home’s pool.

Gleeson said it was “not compliant”.

“I am taking steps to ensure the necessary actions are taken to ensure compliance in accordance with the certifier’s recommendations and requirements,” the affidavit said.

Before it can be sold, the locks and security alarm codes need to be changed, and perimeter checks need to be carried out.

Caddick’s brother, Adam Grimley, is listed on the Dover Heights property’s title as being a 1 per cent registered owner but has said he will sign any documentation needed to progress with the sale.

Grimley hadn’t been living at the home – but rather Koletti.

He had fought to stay at the mansion for almost 18 months after Caddick vanished before being ordered to move out this past May.

In more documents published this week, Koletti’s finances in the lead-up and immediate wake of his wife disappearing are laid bare.

A Commonwealth Bank statement shows he had $94.09 in his bank account on November 9, 2020.

Transfers into the account largely came from a Paypal account, while expenses included trips to the supermarket and an auction house based in Queensland.

A final statement, dated December 2, 2020, showed Koletti had only $1.95 left in the account.

In the affidavit, filed weeks after Caddick’s disappearance, Koletti said that she was the “bread winner” and asked ASIC to make arrangements to allow the family to continue to pay those expenses from seized assets.

“I am concerned that, if the immediate living expenses that would otherwise be paid by the First Defendant (Caddick) are not paid, (child’s name redacted) will not be able to return to his current school to commence his year 10 studies, insurance and security will not be able to be maintained in relation to (Caddick’s) assets, the basic utilities attached to the Dover Heights property may not be paid and may be cut off, and basic health and food requirements will be jeopardised.”

Koletti has since dropped a claim for the proceeds of Caddick’s crimes.

He has moved out of the Dover Heights home and instead resides in a humble two-bedroom apartment that he admits would “fit in one room” of his old abode.

An inquest into Caddick’s disappearance and presumed death is due to commence in September.

How exactly she would have died, however, remains up in the air.

The only remains that have been found are fragments of her foot, washed up on a beach months after she disappeared.

“One of the top theories is that she suicided and my concern with that is, from what we know of Caddick’s personality, that just seems to really counter what you would expect of her,” criminologist Xanthe Mallett earlier told 7NEWS.com.au.

“She was a highly intelligent woman. Obviously, she would have known what she was doing was illegal. She would have known that there were risks and she would have had mitigation plans in place if it all went wrong.

“I think it’s more likely there was human intervention, but that’s, as I said, just from what’s been released publicly.”