The husband of accused Sydney fraudster Melissa Caddick has flatly denied assisting her in disappearing, delaying a police report to buy her time and withholding information.
The inquest is nearing the end of its second week after hearing Ms Caddick was being investigated at the time of her disappearance for fraud of between $20 million and $30 million.
The 49-year-old vanished in November 2020, hours after the corporate watchdog, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), and Australian Federal Police officers raided her Dover Heights home over her alleged Ponzi scheme.
Ms Caddick's husband, Anthony Koletti, on Thursday returned to the witness box after he was told on Wednesday by deputy state coroner Elizabeth Ryan to temporarily stand down after becoming "confused" by the questions and distressed.
Counsel Assisting Jason Downing SC asked Mr Koletti a series of direct questions about the days after Ms Caddick disappeared, including whether he had consciously withheld information from the court.
"No, I've given the court my best recollection of everything," Mr Koletti replied.
He denied Ms Caddick had said anything to him prior to her disappearance to suggest she had stolen investor funds.
"Did you assist her in some way in disappearing that day?" Mr Downing asked.
"Most definitely not," Mr Koletti replied.
Mr Koletti waited 30 hours after his wife disappeared to report her missing but denied this was in order to avoid police attention.
"Did you delay reporting her missing in order to give her time to try and go somewhere?" Mr Downing asked.
"No," Mr Koletti replied.
"Or to try and end her own life?" Mr Downing asked.
"I did not," Mr Koletti replied.
He also denied telling police conflicting accounts about the days after the disappearance in order to avoid discussing what "actually occurred".
Earlier on Thursday the inquest heard Mr Koletti had received ongoing abusive messages since giving evidence.
His lawyer, Judy Swan, read out a message he received from a person on LinkedIn.
"Dodgy prick, I hope you are locked up," it said, according to Ms Swan.
Mr Koletti has denied any knowledge of Ms Caddick's alleged fraud and has not been charged in relation to it.
He was asked about his actions on November 12, 2020 — the day he assumed Ms Caddick had gone for a morning run without her phone or keys, and not returned.
In an affidavit to the inquest sworn one week ago, Mr Koletti said during that day, he "drove to certain places where Melissa and I would visit which were special places to us".
He said he searched for Ms Caddick around their area, mostly taking his own car because "it is bright and the stereo plays loudly", meaning she would recognise it.
On Thursday, he was unable to provide details about when he may have gone out.
Counsel Assisting Jason Downing SC asked Mr Koletti if he had a recollection one week ago when he swore the affidavit.
"I would say so," he replied.
"But you can't remember it today?" Mr Downing asked.
"That's correct," Mr Koletti replied.
Mr Koletti said he didn't go anywhere prior to dropping Ms Caddick's son to school about 7:40am.
The court was shown a printed CCTV image taken from a property facing a reserve and cliffs not far from their Dover Heights home, in Sydney's east.
The image, which depicted 6:55am on the morning of November 12, was once shown to Mr Koletti by police, and appeared to show him getting into his wife's car.
Mr Koletti's handwriting next to the image reads: "This is me looking for Melissa. Can't confirm it's me but looks like me."
At the inquest on Thursday, he described the day as "hazy".
Mr Koletti agreed that on the night of the 12th of November, he met a friend — referred to in court as "Witness A" — outside their home to "get an e-cigarette off him".
Mr Downing put it to Mr Koletti that the visit was actually to "smoke a joint with him that night".
"I don't remember," Mr Koletti replied.
He agreed that by that point, he was "concerned" about his wife.
But while insisting he couldn't recall smoking a joint, Mr Koletti also said: "I accept I would have done that to calm down".
The court has previously heard Mr Koletti did not report Ms Caddick missing to police until November 13 — some 30 hours after he claimed to have last seen her.
Mr Koletti said he was "not sure" why he deleted text messages with Witness A on his phone prior to handing it over to police.
But he told Mr Downing it might have been because "it had something to do with marijuana, as you suggested".
The inquest continues.
