Deceived investors agreed to a framework to recover millions of dollars stolen by fraudster Melissa Cadick, the court was told.
Vanessa Whittaker, who represents the trustee responsible for liquidating the 49-year-old estate, told a federal court on Wednesday that an “overwhelming majority” of investors agreed to divide the funds on equal footing.
The move eliminates the possibility that efforts to repay creditors could turn into a protracted legal battle as individual investors sought priority over others.
“Ultimately, the vast majority of self-funded investors … informed recipients that they agreed to the Paris Pass approach,” Whitaker said.
She told the court that 54 of the 55 investors agreed to the “fair” process set by the recipient, but the last investor simply did not comply.
The move comes a month after Judge Brigitte Malkovich warned there was a “dwindling pool of money” that shouldn’t be wasted on legal fees.
Investors in Cadick’s financial services firm Malibur have more than $23 million in outstanding debt in what the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has said is a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
A lawyer representing the trustee told the court that the pool of funds recovered from the liquidation was “fixed”, aside from an ongoing challenge over the property in Edgecliffe, east of Sydney.
The court was told there was a legal challenge over the apartment Kadic had purchased for his parents, Barbara and Ted Grimley.
In an affidavit filed with the court, the Grimleys allege that they paid Cadick $1 million to help purchase the property.
They asked the court to apply the sale proceeds of Caddick’s home to Edgecliffe’s mortgage.
A hearing on this matter was set for April 28, and legal representatives of ‘Investor A’ successfully joined and contested the litigation on behalf of the investor.
The court was told that depending on the outcome of an April hearing, the proceeds from the sale of Kadic’s Dover Heights home could be “provisionally distributed” to duped investors.
Caddick disappeared from his Dover Heights home in November 2020, a day after a raid by ASIC and NSW police.
Company watchdogs say Kadic diverted investors’ money to fund her lavish lifestyle.
Four months after he went missing in February 2021, he was pronounced dead after his rotting feet were found on a beach 400km south of Sydney.
An ongoing coroner’s office is trying to determine the cause and manner of her presumed death, and the findings are expected to be communicated in April.
Since her disappearance, Jones Partners, a court-appointed recipient, has unraveled Conwoman’s fraud.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Caddick’s Dover Heights home had sold for $9.8 million.
https://thewest.com.au/news/milestone-reached-in-effort-to-claw-back-millions-stolen-by-melissa-caddick-court-told-c-9972878 Court says Milestone Reached to Recover Millions of Dollars Melissa Cadick Stolen