Scamfluencers - Melissa Caddick: Trouble's Afoot

Episode Date: November 6, 2023

Melissa Caddick has always dreamed of doing big things. When she becomes a high-powered financial planner, she’s finally able to buy a huge house, take extravagant vacations, and live the life of an Australian jet-setter. But all that cash isn’t just coming from her paycheck. When her friends and family find out her secret source of income, they feel hurt and betrayed. But by that point, Melissa has mysteriously vanished. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to scam flu answers early and add free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or Apple podcasts. Sachi, you're someone who I feel is kind of full of these really horrifying facts. Thank you. So, I need to know what is your favorite unsolved mystery? I have several, obviously. But for the sake of your squeamish tummy, I'm really fascinated by all those planes that disappeared.

I remember that Malaysian airplane. That's a really good one. Yeah, like I'm really interested in what happened. And I know it probably just plummeted into the ocean or whatever, but like I would like to know where and how. In the same vein, I'm gonna think about the submarine implosion for the rest of my life, even though I know what happened.

Yeah, I think those are really good ones. I guess I don't really have one, I guess. I was really into the Zodiac killer for a while, but that's played out, you know? Yeah, I mean at this point, the Z Zodiac killer for a while, but that's played out, you know? Yeah, I mean, at this point, the Zodiac, it's like Jack the Ripper, who cares, you know? Yeah, we've moved on. Well, today we have a real double header of an episode.

Not only is this about a very wild financial scam, but it's one that's wrapped in a mystery that is still unsolved. But it's one that's wrapped in a mystery that is still unsolved. It's Friday, November 13, 2020. It's a hot, muggy day, and three police officers are standing outside of a mansion in Sydney, Australia. They've just gotten a call from a man named Anthony Coletti. He told them his wife, Melissa, has been missing

for roughly 28 hours. But Anthony declined to come to the police station to file an official missing persons report. And he rejected the police's offer to come to his house because according to the police, he said he had too much work. It all seems very fishy, so the cops decide to show up at his house anyway.

When Anthony answers the front door, the officers are hit with a blast of cool air. They take note of Anthony's appearance. He's in his late 30s, with sunglasses on top of his head and a sole patch. The police don't know much about his wife, Melissa, but they do know she's a financial advisor. And judging by the fancy house, she must be pretty good at it. The cops sit down to talk with Anthony,

and things quickly get weird. Anthony tells them two different stories about where Melissa went. He fixates on strange details, like the fact that she didn't take any liquor with her. He's visibly sweating, even inside the air conditioned house. The lead officer thinks something's up and decides to get real with Anthony. Here's a recording from his body, Kim.

Look Anthony, I'll be honest with you. I'm a bit worried that you're not telling me the full story about what's going on. This is the full story. Like I said. The story seems to be chopping and changing a little bit, and I'm concerned that you know something. I like, it's the best policies. I want to see right now. The lesson I want to find out, I'm concerned where she is. I want to find where she is. I need you to tell me everything and I need you to tell me the truth. But Anthony doesn't offer any additional information.

At least not anything helpful. The officers eventually give up and leave the house. They think he's hiding something, but they don't have any evidence to prove it. And the officers are about to learn that this missing person's case They think he's hiding something, but they don't have any evidence to prove it. And the officers are about to learn that the dismissing person's case is connected to something much bigger. Soon after their visit with Anthony, they discover that Melissa is at the center of a massive Ponzi scheme that siphoned off millions of dollars of other people's money, and her

home was just rated by federal authorities who are trying to get back some of the money she stole. When the story finally hits the news, Melissa Catech will capture the attention of the entire Australian continent. Psst! Hey you! Yeah you! I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.

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don't forget to use the code first for $25 off your first job. Alice and Matt here from British Scandal. Matt, if we had a bingo card, what would be on there? Oh, um, compelling storytelling, egotistical white men and doobie assume. If that sounds like your cup of tea, you will love our podcast, British Scandal, the show where every week we bring you stories from this green and not always so pleasant land. We looked at spies, politicians, media magnates, a king, no one is safe. And knowing our country, we won't be out of a job

any time soon. Follow British Scandal wherever you listen to your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Sarah Hegey, and I'm Sachi Cole. And this is Scample Insers. If you're one of our Australian listeners, you probably already know about Melissa Cacatek. But for everyone else, you're in for a story full of fancy vacations, matching tattoos, and a really gruesome mystery that still remains unsolved.

This is Melissa Catech, Trouble a Foot. Gotcha. It's the mid-1990s in a sleepy, middle-class suburb of Sydney. Melissa Grimley is in her 20s and she's still trying to figure out who she is and where she fits in. As a girl, she wanted to be a ballerina, but she was told she didn't have the right body type. She tried getting into business, but she wasn't very good at math. While Melissa figures out the next step in her career, she throws herself into a new relationship. But this new boyfriend is a bust too. He charms Melissa,

maxes out her credit cards, and runs off with her money. It's a big setback, but Melissa is determined to keep going. She knows she's meant to be someone. She takes classes at a secretarial college and starts working at a roadside assistance company. But she gets furious when people describe her as a secretary. Eventually Melissa gets a job as an assistant at an investment firm and she makes an impression right away. Her boss later says that quote, her manicured presentation seems suited to a job she aspired to rather than the job she had.

Melissa tries really hard to be a boss there, and not just with the way she dresses, because after a while, she gets fired for forging her boss' signature on checks. Well, listen, that's what it takes to be a girl boss. By the late 90s, Melissa focuses on sculpting a new public image starting with her body. She begins working with a personal trainer, and by sheer luck, turns out the trainer has another client who works at a company called

Wise Financial Services. They have an opening for an office manager, and on paper, Melissa seems perfect for the job. After an introduction from the trainer, Melissa gets the gig. Over the next two years, Melissa moves up in the company. She's very charming. Her boss later describes her as bubbly and super efficient. Pretty soon, she gets the job she's been dressing for. Full-fledged financial planner.

Around this time, Melissa's life really starts to take off. She meets Tony Catech, an Englishman with light blue eyes and short crop tear who works in construction. They fall in love and get married in April of 2000, and two years later, she makes a huge career leap. She takes out a $750,000 loan and buys a 25% stake in the company she works for, Wise Financial Services. That makes her a partner at the firm, and a year later, she lands on the cover of Independent Financial Advisors magazine. The headline is, a Wise Choice. Now that she's being photographed for magazine covers, Melissa kicks her fashion and beauty game into high gear.

She wears fancier flashier outfits. She hires a personal chef to help her slim down. She finds a new hairdresser she really likes and visits him regularly. It's all part of building her brand as a successful financial advisor. I was joking about her girl-bossing, but she kind of is. This is like a very typical girl-boss route, but she kind of is. This is like a very typical girl-boss route. Yeah, she's got to look the part. She's got to look like she knows what she's doing. But Melissa also makes things hard for herself.

In 2004, she starts telling her clients to invest in real estate and buy shares of individual companies. It's a direct violation of Wise's rule. They say financial advisors can only recommend managed investment funds, which are less risky. Wise tells Melissa to follow the rules and stop giving out potentially unethical advice. This does not sit while with Melissa. She's furious about being reprimanded and after a fight with her co-workers, she leaves.

The company gives back her $750,000 investment on the condition that she signed a five-year non-complete. Melissa has always had ambitions for her husband, and now she has nothing but time on her hands. She encourages Tony to attend law school. He graduates and gets his license to practice law in 2006 right before the birth of their son. Three years later, Melissa and Tony buy three bedroom house in the suburbs of Sydney. The house is super modern and has an outdoor patio. It's close to

both the city and Melissa's parents. But then, Tony gets a job offer in England close to his parents. They decide to move to London, but keep their house in Sydney. Melissa's got a fresh start, she's a new mom, and her husband's got a great job. She's living the dream. But before long, a new romance will blow up her life once again. long, a new romance will blow up her life once again. It's 2011 and Tony and Melissa have been living in England for over a year. Melissa isn't working, so there's a lot of pressure on Tony to support their family,

but he knows it won't be like this forever. Melissa tells him that she wants to keep up her financial planning skills for when she's ready to get back in the game. She takes a couple of trips across Europe to attend trainings and conventions. As far as Tony can tell, things are going well. But one day, Tony gets a message from a friend. Melissa is supposed to be at a conference in Switzerland, but this friend saw her in Paris going full PDA with another man.

Tony investigates and discovers WhatsApp's up messages between Melissa and the other guy. His name is Anthony Coletti and Melissa actually knows him from Sydney. He's her hairdresser. Oh my god cheating with your hairdresser? That's devious! I can't believe I'm rooting for her. That's bold as hell. It's bananas. Well, as Tony reads the messages, he learns that not only are Melissa and Anthony having an affair, but she's been paying for Anthony to fly across the world with her. When Melissa returns home, Tony confronts her. They have a big fight, and Tony leaves to stay with his parents. A few days later, he returns to an empty house. Melissa has gone back to Sydney

and she's taken their son with her. Tony is left to watch as his wife decides to reinvent herself yet again, this time at his expense. A few months later, Kate Horn pulls up to Melissa's house in Sydney. Kate's soft spoken, blonde, and has a bright smile. She's a disability worker, a single mother of two,

and Melissa's oldest friend. They were childhood neighbors and have known each other since preschool. Walking up to the doorway, Kate admires Melissa's stylish, slate-grey home. There's the attached two car garage, the balcony off the master bedroom, the pristine marble kitchen, and the private patio. But despite the lavish home, Melissa is undeniably going through a rough patch. Her marriages and shambles, and now she's a single mother. Melissa fills Kate in on the absolute disaster of the past year or so. She tells Kate that once she got to her family's new home in England, she discovered Tony had liked her.

He didn't really have a job waiting for him. Melissa says he'd moved her there to isolate her. She describes Tony as a controlling, cheating, abusive narcissist. She says that she and her son fled England for their own safety. And Melissa doesn't just tell this story to Kate, she repeats it to everyone else in her life, too. Do we know if any of the things that Melissa is saying is true? Well, it's not until much later that Kate claims Melissa distorted this story to make it seem like she was the victim. At the time, Kate feels bad for her friend,

but even still, it looks like Melissa is doing well for herself. She still has the huge house, and she's come into a lot of money, too, or at least that's the lie she tells Kate. She claims she sold her stake in wise financial for a huge profit. To Kate, the story seems plausible. She fully believes in her friend's ability to make money, which might explain what happens next.

Melissa tells Kate that she's opening her own financial firm. She reportedly says, quote, �I'm starting a company for people in similar positions to you and me. Melissa offers to invest Kate's retirement funds for her, and she'll only charge a tiny management fee since Kate is her friend. Kate spends some time thinking about it. A month later, she takes Melissa up on the offer. She hasn't done any research, but she doesn't need to. She thinks Melissa is a financial powerhouse, and Melissa has a publicity to prove it.

So Kate hands over her retirement accounts and eventually gives Melissa control over all of her investments. Kate's happy to help her friend launch her new business. But she doesn't know that Melissa's story of rising from the ashes is pure deception. She isn't Melissa's first client. She's her first mark. And Melissa is just getting started.

I'm Rob Bryden and welcome to my podcast, Bryden and. We are now in our third series. Among those still to come is some Michael Paling, the comedy duo Egg and Robbie Williams. The list goes on. So do sit back and enjoy. Brighten and on Amazon Music, Wondery Plus or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever seriously pissed off your in-laws? A couple of years ago, I started investigating a murder in my wife's family. Why would I do something so stupid? Well, partly because I've come to suspect that the woman who was killed is haunting the

house I grew up in. It was a weight in the beard like somebody was in it. I woke up because my bed was shaking, so it would be like, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, but mainly because I think someone in the family might have got away with murder. Am I in laws? Well, they're not exactly thrilled about it. You are deconstructing an age old story.

We're going to be more traumatized by this podcast than we were about the merger. I'll tell you that. There is going to be Glowback. I'm Tristan Redmond and from Wondering and Pineapple Street Studios, this is GoStory, a podcast about the things that come back to haunt us. Follow GoStory on the Wondry app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of GoStory ad-free right now by joining One Dree Plus. By 2013, Melissa's been back in Sydney about a year, and she's been steadily convincing her friends and family to invest with her new company, Molliver Propyretary Limited. There's just one problem.

She's not legally allowed to work as a financial planner. Australian law requires her to have something called a financial services license number. But Melissa hasn't had one since she left wise. And if she were to get caught advising clients without one, she could face jail time and a $20,000 fine. But one day in June, Melissa sees something that makes her eyes light up.

It's an email from the woman who manages her life insurance policy. To protect her privacy, let's call her Jane. Melissa met Jane about a decade earlier when Melissa was working out wise. And now, Jane is emailing Melissa and her other clients to tell them she got a new financial services number. She lists it right there in the email.

Melissa decides to give Jane a call. They chat and Melissa tells Jane about her new company. Then she makes her ask. She says she needs a favor. Could she work under Jane's financial services number? Jane says she'll have to think about it. When she calls Melissa back, she tells her she doesn't think it's a good idea.

It would be too much of a risk for her to supervise other financial advisors. She says Melissa should apply for her own license. Melissa is disappointed, but says she understands. Melissa gets back to work. Later that same month, she sends out a financial services guide to one of her new Molliver investors outlining the company's mission. Throughout the document, Melissa references the company's license number, which just so happens to be James. Maybe she's someone who just feels like she's always getting away with

stuff, because I don't know why she would ask if she was going to just do it anyway, you know? Yeah. And we don't know for sure why Melissa just doesn't apply for her own license, but we have a few guesses. For starters, she'd need two professional references from the past 12 months, which she probably doesn't have. She left wise on really bad terms, and most of the work she's done since then has basically been off the books. She also needs to write out a business plan, which she doesn't really have. So Melissa decides that copy and pasting Jane's number is easier. Jane, of course, has no idea.

And none of Melissa's clients think to look up the number and make sure it actually belongs to her. There's no reason they would. They trust her. But that trust is going to turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives. That trust is gonna turn out to be the biggest mistake of their lives. It's New Year's Eve 2013 and Melissa's throwing a party at her place. Kates on the invite list

and Melissa's new bestie, Michelle Lesley, probably is too. Michelle is a fit, 40-something, who started out as Melissa's personal chef but quickly became her personal trainer, then a client. The dress code at the party is cocktail attire, which matches the location. A five-bedroom, five-bathroom house with a perfect view of the Sydney Harbor fireworks.

Melissa just sold her other place in Sydney, and she's been renting this house for almost $3,000 a week. When the guests arrive, they learn that it's not just a New Year's party, it's also Melissa's wedding. She's marrying Anthony. Yes, the hairdresser, and it is a lavish event. You know, I can't believe she's marrying the hairdresser, but I can also very much believe that she's marrying the hairdresser. I mean, it's looking snatched till death do them part, you know? Ugh. Well, the wedding is just the start of the celebration.

Melissa and Anthony are planning to spend the entire month of January on a ski trip to Aspen. The vacation costs about $80,000. Melissa's been getting away with such ridiculous spending by straight up stealing her client's money. She convinces them that if they invest it with her, they'll get high returns. Some of her clients even empty their retirement accounts when Melissa tells them how much they can earn with her. Each client puts their money in an account specifically for Melissa to invest it.

But that account is just Melissa's personal piggy bank. To hide her fraud, she writes up fake investment reports showing returns of up to 30%. She literally copy and paste the logo of a trading company onto the document she gives clients, along with a made up account number. She doesn't even include the right amount of digits. Ha-ha-ha. I almost admire how lazy this is.

It's so lazy, but you see a letterhead, you see a logo and you think, it's all good. And, you know, Melissa's clients trust her and they're awed by their supposed returns. So they praise her as a financial genius, give her even more money, and introduce her to more potential clients who put their money right into Melissa's bank account. Anthony is staying busy as well. In addition to being a part-time hairdresser, he's also

a part-time DJ. He has his own music company called Pause Off Productions. That's Pause as an P-A-W-S. Here's a sample of one of his songs entitled Shifting Lanes. ["Safety Lanes"] It's bad, Sarah. That was bad. I mean, it's like really, really bad. Yeah.

To no surprise, Anthony's DJing career never really takes off, but the family is doing okay thanks to Melissa, who's stealing more money than ever. In the spring of 2014, she and Anthony want to buy a house in Dover Heights, a swanky suburb of Sydney. On paper, Melissa's net worth is $600,000. That's not nothing, but the house is worth $6 million.

And she definitely wouldn't get approved for a loan. So Melissa shows the bank fake tax forms. They claim the money her clients have given her to invest is actually money they paid her as a consulting fee for her financial advice. She's forging documents in every direction, and it's working. The loan is approved and they buy the house. Melissa and Anthony start taking all sorts of extravagant vacations. They spend almost $40,000

on a short trip to New York. They pop over to Fiji. They even cut one of their trips to Aspen short and pivot to Whistler instead, because a snow-out Aspen just isn't up to Melissa's standards. On one trip to Hawaii, Anthony and Melissa get matching tattoos. They're Chinese characters depicting Melissa's name, Anthony's name, and her son's name. That is one of the worst things I've ever heard.

I know, you can't get worse than that. Meanwhile, Melissa keeps finding new marks connected to her existing clients. She also starts hitting up people she meets during her travels. Her so-called business is growing. And by 2020, she's a millionaire several times over. Now that she's conning the wealthy

out of their mountains of cash, the possibilities are endless. But as skiers often find out, the higher you go, the harder you're likely to fall. It's August 2020, and Jane is sitting in the waiting room of a dentist's office. Jane is in her late 40s,

about Melissa's age, with blonde hair, flawless skin, and pearly white teeth. She's a financial advisor who told Melissa she needed to get her own license number. It's only a few months into the pandemic and sitting in the waiting room, Jane is probably feeling a little on edge. But before her name is called to see the dentist, she hears something that makes her even more uneasy. She overhears one of the other patients in the waiting room saying, I'm investing with Melissa Catech.

By this point, Jane has discovered that Melissa has stolen her license number and she's livid. So Jane feels like she has to intervene. Over the last year, the board that oversees these licenses received two anonymous tips about Melissa stealing Jane's number. And we don't know for sure whether Jane

filed both of these tips herself, but it seems like a pretty good guess. If Jane can prevent even one person from getting scammed in the meantime, she's going to go for it. She interrupts the patient in the waiting room to ask if they could speak later in private. The woman agrees and informs Jane that she's invested $2.5 million dollars with Melissa since the two met an husband about seven months earlier. Jane tells her to get her money out of Melissa's hands immediately. Sachi, how would you try to get your money back in this situation? Crying?

I mean, I would probably end up doing something illegal. Yeah, crimes are crying. Those are my two tactics for all uncomfortable situations. Well, after this chance encounter, the woman calls Melissa and says she's just found a property she wants to buy. She says she needs a money she invested with Melissa to close a deal. Remarkably, Melissa returns all of the money along with about $300,000,

which she says are profits from the investment. But in reality, this money is coming from other people's investments. And remember, a lot of these people are saving for retirement, so they likely won't notice that their money is gone, at least not right away. This particular client has dodged a huge bullet,

but like Jane, she doesn't want anyone to get caught up in the scheme. So she calls the regulatory board overseeing licenses, and by September 2020, they've formally launched an investigation into Melissa's finances. It doesn't take long for the government to gather enough evidence to get a search warrant for her home. Melissa might be fooling her friends and family, but she can't keep up this ruse much longer. She's in for a rude awakening,

literally. It's early in the morning on November 11, 2020. Melissa sits in her kitchen looking over her schedule. Anthony and her son are at the granite counter eating cereal. There's a knock at the door. And when Melissa opens it, swarms of Australian federal police enter. They announce they'll be searching the house. They hand her a warrant and give her time to read it

while her 14-year-old son gets ready for school. Melissa watches as Anthony and her son disappear to get dressed for the day. Shit is going down. One of the agents wants to go up to Melissa's home office. Finders of client documents line the bookcases. When the asker to open the office safe, Melissa pulls out a treasure trove of jewelry. Here's a recording from the body cam footage aired on 60 minutes, Australia.

I'm a scenic, do they already? Particularly hard, don't you think? Set it on my wedding. It's a little hard to hear, but the officer asks her if there are any particularly high-value items there. And Melissa says they're all high-value. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Ah, listen, she's a bad guy, I get it, but that is a really baller response.

Yeah, she's like, bitch, they're all expensive. She's like, everything I own is expensive. What do you want me to say? God bless her. Well, as Anthony leaves to take Melissa's son to school, he tells her, we'll be okay, you've done nothing wrong. Once he's gone, the agents take everything. Melissa's jewelry, her designer clothes, her shoes.

They inform her that her bank accounts have been frozen. By the time the officers leave, Melissa's dream house is an empty shell. Melissa is probably feeling like a shell of herself too. The very next day, she leaves to go for a run and never comes back. A day after that, Anthony contacts the police to report a missing person. The police come and search the house looking for her. But Melissa can't be found anywhere, at least not in one piece. Hey there, I know that life is full of challenges, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. A stoic philosopher once said that no man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity,

for he is not permitted to prove himself. I'm Ryan Holliday, the best-selling author and host the Daily Stoke podcast, a podcast where I break down the ancient teachings from the Stoke philosophers so you can apply their thinking to the problems of modern life. On the Daily Stoke, you'll find everything from insightful conversations to people like Matthew McConaughey and Gary V on how they've used stoicism in their own life. To short, 10 minute teachings on how to deal with fear and build better habits. Ancient philosophy doesn't have to be this inaccessible and practical thing. On the Daily Stoke, you can learn how to bring the values of stoicism into your own life one day at a time. Follow the Daily Stoke on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts,

and you can listen to the Daily Stoke early and add free right now on Wondery Plus. When Michelle, Melissa's former personal trainer first catches wind of Melissa's disappearance. She's probably worried about her. When she hears on the news that Melissa was being investigated for running a Ponzi scheme, she's understandably furious. Michelle had entrusted Melissa with all of her and her husband's savings. Now, she doesn't know if they'll be able to retire. Michelle isn't the only victim worried about their future. The Australian government has alleged that Melissa has stolen more than 10 million dollars

from her clients. They don't know yet that the true amount of money she stolen is likely at least three times this amount. They've launched land, air, and water rescue searches, requested security footage from the morning of her disappearance, and called on the public to report any information on the missing person. But Melissa seems to have vanished as quickly and completely as a money she stole from her investors. Then, after three months of searching for her, the police say they're ready to make an announcement. A lot of people are watching and are probably shocked when the police deliver this gruesome

twist during the press conference. I can now inform you that last Sunday, Sunday, 21st of February, a shoe was located on the shoreline of the Ordana National Park south of Tathra. Within that shoe, where the remains of a human foot. DNA from the foot was last night matched to DNA from Melissa Caddick's tooth brush. Ah, that is so grizzly and so brutal. And not where I thought we were going today, Sarah. Yes, it is totally crazy.

It really does shock everyone. And I mean, lots of people assume Melissa's dead, but Michelle doesn't buy it. She started to question everything about her former bestie. Here's what she later says to her reporter on 60 minutes Australia. My first reaction is, it's only a foot.

Where's the rest of the body? Is there some in-evidence to say she's actually dead? She's capable of anything. This twist sparks a whole new frenzy of theories about Melissa's disappearance, and the entire nation becomes hooked. By April 2022, the spectacle surrounding Melissa Cadek's scam has made its way all across Australia. The true crime drama series Underbelly airs a mini-series based on Melissa's crimes and

disappearance. That same month, the Sydney Morning Haired starts publishing Liar Liar, a 10-part podcast series about Melissa. These explorations of her life are building on months of TV news stories and tabloid headlines. Sachi, can you read a couple of them? I would be so happy to. Melissa Catech's shoe mystery stuns forensic experts?

Could Melissa Catech still be alive leading criminologist says foot could provide more answers? I also like this one from the Daily News, which says, top cop admits Catech may have cut her own foot, not jumped from Sidney Mansion. Well, a few weeks later, seven news airs a televised interview with Anthony, including footage of him taking a tiny urn out of a shoe box. making a tiny urn out of a shoe box. Hahaha. Anthony's strange conduct with the police remains a mystery.

His story contradicts itself. He harasses one of the federal agents involved in the case, and he even releases an album about Melissa's disappearance. And people are still consumed by theorizing. What did happen to Melissa? Like Michelle, lots of people on social media think Melissa cut off her own foot to trick the cops. Take a look at this TikTok satchi. So what are the theories? She was murdered, suicide, she was swimming in the ocean and the shock. Better? I think those theories are quite plausible, but I think she faked her in death. She's avoiding jail time. Let's be honest to you. Sometimes I think as a people, we just have too much information, and it makes us think

that things are more complicated than they are. Yes, but also they found a foot. You know what I mean? Yeah, they found a foot. A foot's a tricky body part to find and feel confident. And you know, just a foot, no body is pretty insane. Well the comments on the TikTok are really funny because it's all people talking about. They would cut their feet off for $20 million. And this one says, she can get a brand new foot with $22 million. Arguably true.

Yeah, sure, but you still have to lose a foot and find a way to get somewhere to get a new foot. And also, like, this money she stole, it has to be used discreetly. I mean, there's just too many questions. Mm-hmm. There are plenty of other theories too. One of Melissa's childhood friends thinks that Melissa was actually taken into witness protection possibly to go after bigger fish. But the courts ignore the speculation. They're focused on making Melissa's victims whole. It's a tall order.

She's estimated to have stolen roughly $30 million from more than 60 clients, and most of that money seems to have vanished into thin air, just like Melissa herself. As of this recording, investors have collectively only gotten back about $3 million, just a fraction of what they're owed. The authorities hope that they can resell her assets and recover at least some of the money. But nothing, not the mansion, the jewelry, or the fancy clothes will be enough to make Melissa's victims whole. It's May of 2023. I have to imagine that Kate has been hearing so much about Melissa. Now she knows more than she ever did during their long friendship and she could hardly believe any of it. On this day, Kate gets another update from an official source. In a press conference,

the new South Wales deputy state coroner reports, I have concluded that Melissa Catech is deceased. However, a more problematical issue is whether the evidence is sufficient to enable a positive finding as to how she died and when and where this happened. For Kate, she processes the news, but it's a lot to hear. She's torn between feeling sad for Melissa's family and being enraged by Melissa's scam. Kate and her family lost about $10 million to Melissa. That's about a third of the total money Melissa stole from all of her clients.

But even though Kate and her extended family lost everything, she still talks about her long-time friend with clear compassion. When she's asked to reflect on Melissa and Anthony's wedding, which Kate's stolen investments helped pay for, Kate tells a podcast, Liar Liar. Completely catered for lovely food. It was all finger food, but a caterer has come into the house,

champagne all night. She had three dress changes. Three. Yeah. Why do you need three dress changes? Oh, I suppose it was a big event. I don't know. I need three years of risk changing. Oh, I suppose it was a big event I don't know. I would be so angry if I was able to see tangibly where somebody spent the money they stole from me.

Yeah, I know. And so many of Melissa's victims were like Kate, loving friends and family who trusted her implicitly. Nobody who grew up with Melissa can quite believe that she's everything the media is saying. The official take on what happened to her is that it's still a mystery. Or, as Kate said when asked about why Melissa

had the redress changes at her own wedding, I don't know. And there are still so many unanswered questions about Anthony, who, by the way, was never implicated in Melissa's scam or her disappearance. The coroner's report describes him as a, quote, most unimpressive and unreliable witness. The lack of answers has only fueled speculation online. People have invested countless hours into analyzing, dissecting, and even recreating aspects

of Melissa's life. But just like everyone else who invested with Melissa, it's unlikely that anyone is going to see substantial returns. Well, Sachi, you must have been pretty shocked by this one. Yeah, I didn't think it was ending with a foot in a shoe. I mean, the fact that there are so many conspiracy theories around this, I think is so interesting, because maybe it speaks to people want scam artists to be a little more complicated, you

know? They want it to be like more mysterious, or that these people are like, they function in a way that we don't, their brains are made in a way that ours aren't, and they would be willing to cut their foot off. Yeah. Just to get away with something. And it's like, I don't really think people are all that complicated, you know? I truly do believe it's just like a very, very odd death of her jumping off a cliff

because she knew her life was basically over. And I guess that just happens to be the remain that is found. You know what I mean? It is just crazy. Honestly, if I was in Australia, I would have been obsessed with this. I mean, what else is happening there? But there's really not a lot going down there.

So they have to take what they can get. I understand that. I'm wondering, Satchee, if you think financial planning is a scam because I really don't know anything about financial planning. It seems like every day there's a new app or someone telling me to do something. And I'm just like, I don't really know what's going on here

and I'm really scared about it. And then hearing something like this, is this life coaching as far as scams go? Like I just don't, it's a lot. It's a lot to think about. I don't know that it's all a scam, mostly because I don't understand enough about financial planning to just say that. And I do think that there is something to be

said about you hiring a good financial planner who helps you figure out this ecosystem that is super complicated, but I do think a lot of them are full of shit. And they pray on the fact that people don't know anything about their money. And they don't know how to ask. And I think also people believe in the fallacy of some cost. And so they'll leave their money there and hope that eventually it works out. I think people are also very attracted to the idea that you can have this kind of passive income

of investing in something quietly. And being like, you know what, this money's just here anyway. I'm the person who knows how to put it somewhere to make you more money. You just sit back and I'll deal with everything. To me, that sounds great. here anyway, I'm the person who knows how to put it somewhere to make you more money. You just sit back and I'll deal with everything. To me, that sounds great. And if one of my very good lifelong friends who worked in that sector for a long time came

to me and was like, hey, this is what I'm doing, I'd be like, yeah, I'll give you a little bit of money. Then she keeps showing you more and more lies about the money you're making. Yeah. That's crazy. I don't think there's anything stupid about these people believing in her. No, of course not. It's a tough question because it's like, would you believe your doctor? Yes, but if your doctor is lying to you, that's not your fault.

Yeah. It really is just hard to parse some of these stories. It does make me really sad because these normal everyday things of getting a bank statement or any kind of statement and not clocking all these weird little things that are wrong with it. Like, oh, this isn't even how long an account number is. Like, who's gonna look at something long enough

to know these things? Like, we inherently just trust these things we see that look official, right? You kind of understand why true conspiracy theorists are like, buy these gold bars and put them under your floorboards. 100%. This makes me want to put rolled up cash,

like, tuck doing different parts of my apartment, which I'm not gonna do, do not break into my apartment. My plan is much more complicated and you will never figure it out. Yes, my financial plan right now is, I don't know, Mary Rich? Okay Sarah, I don't even have the bandwidth to get into that plan. Best of luck, let me know how it goes. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to ScanFlancers ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can

listen ad free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. This is Melissa Catech, Trouble A Foot. I'm Sarah Hagkey, and I'm Sachi Cole. Special thanks to the many listeners who suggested we look into this story. If you have a tip for us on a story you think we should cover, please email us at scamflensers at wendry.com. We use many sources in our research. A few that were particularly helpful were Kate McClymon's reporting for the Sydney Morning Herald, Tom Housedens reporting for BBC News, and the 60 Minutes Australia episode The

Money Trail. Sarah Doe-Auz Warren wrote this episode, additional writing by us, Sachy Cole and Sarah Haggie. Our senior producer is Jen Swan. Our producer is John Reed. Our associate producers are Charlotte Miller and Lexi Peary. Our story editor and producer is Sarah Enny. Eric Thurm is our story editor. Sound Design is by James Morgan. Back checking by Gabrielle Jolie. Additional audio assistance provided by Adrian Tapia. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez for Free Saun Sink. Our coordinating producer is Desi Blaylock.

Our managing producer is Matt Gantt and our senior managing producer is Ryan Moore. Kate Young and Olivia Rashard are series producers. Our senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Our senior producer is Ginny Bloom. Our executive producers are Janine Cornelow, Stephanie Gens, Jenny Lauer Beckman, and Marshall Louis for Wundery. The End He's in the hands of a madman What are the police have been looking for me the missing office and the clock is running out

Is your life? I'm not gonna tell you now But nothing can stop a father and we want to find her just as much as you do I doubt that very much From doing what the law can't Got to let us do our job. Don't cut me out of this. You have no idea what I'm feeling right now. Harry, we have to do this a very way. You have to. I don't.

No, here's my daughter. Bosch Legacy. Watch the new season, now streaming exclusively on FreeV. the new season, now streaming exclusively on FreeVee.