Why ASIC took 12 months to act on Caddick
The corporate regulator took almost a year to act in freezing the assets of phoney adviser Melissa Caddick after the first complaint against her was made, according to new information submitted to a parliamentary committee.
The response from ASIC came in relation to a question on notice from Liberal senator Slade Brockman around when the regulator was first made aware of problems surrounding the Sydney businesswoman, who is missing, presumed dead and allegedly perpetrated a fraud of more than $20 million against her former clients.
“With respect to the high profile case of Melissa Caddick, can you please advise when ASIC was first made aware of issues with respect to her, either through a complaint or another form of feedback and what ASIC did as a result of this notice?” Senator Brockman asked.
The regulator conceded it was first made aware of a complaint against Ms Caddick in November 2019, nearly a year before it acted to freeze her assets in the Federal Court.
“ASIC first received a report from an anonymous source regarding Melissa Caddick on 26 November 2019,” the regulator said.
“ASIC receives hundreds of complaints each month. The report on 26 November did not allege there had been a financial loss.”
ASIC said it did not begin investigating Ms Caddick until more than six months later, when a second complaint was received in early June 2020.
“Following an investigation, ASIC successfully applied to the court on 10 November 2020 for asset freezing and other orders and executed a search warrant with the assistance of the [Federal Police] on 11 November 2020,” the regulator said.
Ms Caddick went missing from her home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs shortly after the police raid took place, and her partial remains were found in February this year. ASIC is still pursuing the wind-up of her company Maliver in the courts with a view to returning any available funds to investors.
Auditors who were involved in auditing a number of SMSFs managed by Ms Caddick may also find themselves hit by a potential class action.
Tony Zhang
Tony Zhang is a journalist at Accountants Daily, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the accounting sector.
Since joining the Momentum Media team in 2020, Tony has written for a range of its publications including Lawyers Weekly, Adviser Innovation, ifa and SMSF Adviser. He has been full-time on Accountants Daily since September 2021.
