Melissa Caddick’s parents ordered to vacate
Barb and Ted Grimley, the parents of alleged conwoman Melissa Caddick, have been ordered to vacate their daughter’s Sydney eastern suburbs property within six weeks.
The apartment, which is reportedly the last of Melissa’s assets to be sold, has been the subject of a long-running legal dispute between her parents - who were co-owners of the Edgecliff property after buying a share in it - and her victims.
Melissa disappeared in late 2020 after the ASIC raided her Dover Heights home as part of a corporate watchdog investigation into a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme, with claims that Melissa had stolen upwards of $23 million.
And when it came to the apartment purchased with those funds, the Grimleys claimed that they deserved a larger share of the estate’s proceeds, while those who had suffered from Melissa’s scam argued that the earnings from the apartment’s sale should be split evenly among them.
The Grimleys were refusing to leave unless they were paid a sum of $950,000 - which would see them take home most of what they’d allegedly put into the apartment’s $2.25 million mortgage.
And on June 5, Federal Court Justice Brigette Markovic proclaimed that Barbara and Ted had to leave the property within a six week timeframe if they wanted to see that $950,000.
More than 50 investors were being represented in the ASIC’s Federal Court case, hoping to regain the money they’d lost through the sale of Melissa’s assets.
To date, Melissa’s substantial collection of designer clothing, luxury cars, jewellery, and multimillion dollar properties with stunning views of Sydney Harbour have come under scrutiny, with many facing the auction block in Sydney in a bid to repay the investors.
Additionally, another order was passed down that would see them get an “interim distribution” of $3 million.
Neither the Grimley’s lawyers or the investors’ opposed the “only way forward” settlement, with the latter set to take over the ownership of the controversial apartment once Melissa’s parents have vacated the premises, and will get to work preparing to sell it.
And, as some have theorised, the agreement could mark the end of the ASIC investigation. However, Justice Markovice was clear that the identities of the investors would remain confidential until legal proceedings concluded, with the court hearing that they would be classified as interested parties in the following proceedings, as well as Barb and Ted Grimley.
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