By Chantelle Al-Khouri
Melissa Caddick disappeared hours after the Australian Federal Police raided her home at Dover Heights, Sydney in November 2020. Photo: Facebook
The victims of Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick have reached a $3.54 million settlement in a class action.
The self-styled financial adviser left investors almost $24 million out of pocket through their self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) before she disappeared in Sydney's east in November 2020.
Caddick and her financial services company Maliver had 72 clients - many of whom were her close friends and family - invest enormous sums on the understanding the money was being invested in portfolios.
The 49-year-old vanished hours after the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided her home at Dover Heights, as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigated her multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.
In February 2021, a decomposing foot - confirmed to be Ms Caddick's - washed up on a New South Wales south coast beach, with the coroner ruling her dead in May 2023.
Law firm alleges auditors were negligent and deceptive
Law firm Mackay Chapman launched a class action in September 2023 against the auditors engaged to conduct annual audits of SMSFs.
In a statement at the time, it alleged the auditors failed to "identify fraudulent documents prepared by Ms Caddick" and "failed to confirm that the assets said to be held by the SMSFs in fact existed".
Among the claims made in the lawsuit were allegations that the auditors showed negligence and misleading or deceptive conduct.
"SMSFs are required to be audited annually. Over the eight years between 2012 and 2020, at least five auditors were engaged to conduct the mandatory annual audit of the SMSFs," the law firm said.
The settlement was approved by Federal Court Justice Brigitte Markovic during a hearing in Sydney on Tuesday.
Applicants 'very happy' with settlement
Mackay Chapman director Michael Chapman "welcomed the settlement" and said the proceedings of the class action took 18 months.
The class action itself acted on behalf of 32 group members.
"It achieved two important objectives. Firstly, it is a fair and reasonable amount of compensation. Secondly, it was achieved in less than 18 months, representing a timely outcome for a class action," he said.
"We hope this final chapter in the Melissa Caddick saga will bring some measure of closure.
"The applicants are very happy with the outcome - this is the end of the road."
Chapman also said those investors were expected to get an additional 11 cents in the dollar, meaning the victims would get back 50 percent of their investment.
In a Federal Court case initiated by the corporate watchdog against Caddick, receivers were appointed to recoup as much money as possible by selling off her estate for those left out-of-pocket.
In March 2024, her luxury penthouse apartment was sold for an undisclosed sum, with the proceeds to be used to pay back some of the money stolen.
An inquest in May 2023 found it was not possible to draw conclusions about how or where Caddick died.
- ABC
