Vanishing Act, a shocking take on a real scammer who made millions and disappeared

As a result, moving around wasn’t easy and was probably frowned upon. You would also, one would imagine, be quite noticeable if you popped up somewhere you shouldn’t be.

Nevertheless, Melissa Caddick managed to vanish right from under the authorities’ noses – apart from the grisly discovery of a dismembered foot still in its trainer, she hasn’t been seen since and was eventually declared dead.

The 49-year-old disappeared a day after agents from the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and police officers raided her property in the affluent area of Dover Heights in Sydney.

They suspected she had been carrying out financial services without a licence and may have misappropriated millions from investors, including friends and family, as part of a Ponzi scheme.

The case has been turned into a three-part drama starring former Wentworth actor Kate Atkinson. It was premiered in the UK via the streaming service ITVX during the summer, and now it – and its accompanying documentary, The Real Vanishing Act: Missing Millionairess – are heading onto ITV1.

The latter features interviews with Caddick’s second husband (the pair were still married at the time of her disappearance), hairdresser Anthony Koletti, who claims he feels a sense of injustice over how he was treated by the police after initially being a suspect in her death.

“There’s definitely injustice there,” he says. “But the police very quickly corrected their opinion of me because they had the truth. I can’t feel any resentment towards the police whatsoever.”

As for his wife, he has very clear memories of what life was like around the time the police began closing in: “I could tell that she was under a lot of pressure and stress. I just sort of tried to calm her down and managed to do it. And yeah, that was really it. I think anyone in that circumstance will be overwhelmed. Even for me it was a lot having to manage that and her son (from a previous relationship).

“I was the most in-the-dark person out of everyone. I’m a very straight and narrow person. I just make people feel good about themselves by fixing their hair up! I’m a pretty simple creature. So I didn’t, especially at that point, understand the financial industry whatsoever.”

Koletti has lost his home and many of his possessions during the past three years as creditors attempted to claw back some of the money taken from them. And yet, he appears to feel no bitterness, although he has learned some valuable lessons along the way.

“Nothing hurts worse than the loss of a loved one, especially someone that you love 100 per cent, so anything else that changes is no comparison, really. I think the rest of it is just sort of dealing with it.

“Love is more powerful than money. And you learn that when you go through my situation. You can’t replace a human being but you can certainly replace money. I’m a living example of that.”