The New South Wales deputy state coroner, Elizabeth Ryan, has concluded that alleged fraudster Melissa Caddick is dead.
In 2020, Caddick, then 49, disappeared from her home in the Sydney suburb of Dover Heights following a raid on her property by officers from the corporate regulator and federal police on 11 November that year.
The coroner's court has been exploring the circumstances around her disappearance.
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Ryan has concluded that Caddick is deceased. She is still delivering her findings:
"I have concluded that Melissa Caddick is deceased,:" she said. "However, a more problematic issues is whether the evidence is sufficient to enable a positive finding of how she died and how and when it happened."
Ryan described the inquest as deeply painful for Caddick's family. She also described the fraudulent scheme used by Caddick to cheat her family and friends out of huge amounts of money, which she used to fund a "very expensive" lifestyle.
"Ms Caddick's clients were shocked and felt a profound sense of betrayal when they discovered the money they invested with her had gone. The financial and emotional harm they have suffered will continue to reverberate for many years to come."
more to come