Madoff’s downfall came with the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, when people wanted their money back. Caddick was reported to authorities.
Even though a tip was made to ASIC in late 2019 suggesting she was falsely claiming she held a financial services licence, that tip was anonymous and did not suggest anyone had suffered a financial loss. In June the following year a more detailed second complaint sparked a covert investigation that would ultimately lead to Caddick’s unmasking.
Bruce Gleeson, liquidator of Melissa Caddick’s companies, described the fraudster as meticulous and calculated.Credit:Nick Moir
While Madoff’s scheme was at its height and his clients asked for withdrawals, the fraudster paid them with money from fresh victims – a classic “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scenario.
Caddick did the same. When one of her clients wanted her $2.5 million investment returned to buy a house, Caddick tried to talk her out of it.
The prospect of losing such a large amount of money must have kept Caddick awake much of the night because at 6.22am on August 14, 2020, the morning after receiving the redemption request, Caddick emailed her client trying to convince her that real estate was not the way to go.
Court documents show that by mid-morning Caddick had abandoned that strategy and was now looking at her client as a possible path to fresh victims. “Hi [name redacted], As I mentioned I would be happy to speak to [your brother] If you think 1 or 2 people that would be…
