Judith Neilson accuses secretary Annalouise Spence of $1.5m spending spree
Updated ,first published
At 8.05am on Wednesday morning, most residents of Goddard Street in Erskineville were chanting “Police, search warrant!” Then came the sound of glass breaking.
Police raided the home of 50-year-old Annalouise Spence, who allegedly defrauded her former boss, philanthropist Judith Neilson, of more than $1 million.
“The whole street woke up,” said Joe Spackman, who lives across the road. Spackman said he grabbed his phone and got out of bed to record the police beating on the glass door. Shards of glass were visible on the doormat, which had the words “The Spences” written on it.
A search warrant was also executed at Neilson’s art storage facility in Campbelltown. Spence was arrested at his home and taken to the Mascot Police Station, where he was later charged.
“He was charged with 68 counts of dishonesty and obtaining property by deception,” the police said in a statement to the press. Spence was denied bail and will appear in court on Thursday.
On April 26 last year, Neilson toasted his private secretary’s 50th birthday at a lavish party held at the McRae Bar at the five-star Capella Hotel in Sydney’s CBD.
Birthday girl Annalouise “Lou” Spence was dazzling in a sparkling sequined polyester dress that she spent $1,200 on. She also spent $10,000 on Jimmy Choo stilettos and a matching gold evening bag. And that was just for her first outfit of the night.
As he placed his cocktail glass on a linen napkin embroidered with his secretary’s name and initials, Neilson told this masthead he had no idea the police would now claim to have covered the $40,000 party expenses; These expenses included $1,000 for monogrammed napkins, luxury clothing and accessories, as well as $6,000 for his secretary’s two-night stay at the Capella with her husband, Adam Spence.
For eight years, Neilson, 79, who does not use email or a computer, had given Spence access to his private personal and financial information.
In March 2023, Spence allegedly impersonated Neilson to obtain an additional card added to his boss’s Centurion American Express card, better known as Black Amex. The card was allegedly used to spend more than $1 million on first-class travel, extravagant hotel stays, designer clothing, accessories, jewelry and artwork.
Neilson told this imprint that he did not authorize Spence’s additional card and had no idea that Spence had allegedly removed his finance team’s custody of his Amex account.
Throughout Wednesday, police were seen leaving Spence’s home with artwork, designer shoes, luxury bags and monogrammed Louis Vuitton shorts. Spence was taken from his home in Erskineville to Mascot police station.
When Neilson discovered Spence’s alleged frauds, he said, “I was sickened and very hurt.”
Neilson explained that he felt a “deep sense of betrayal” as he had entrusted Spence with the task of organizing travel logistics and overseeing home operations and charitable activities for years.
Spence and her husband also lived rent-free in a building owned by Neilson next to Neilson’s Chippendale home, which won numerous architectural awards.
Annalouise Brown emigrated from Ireland with her parents and two sisters in her childhood. Spence’s CV states that after leaving Jamison High School in Penrith in 1992, she worked as an executive assistant and then business analyst at the Starlight Foundation.
She married rally car driver Adam Spence in 2014.
Before joining the Judith Neilson Family Office in 2017, Spence’s LinkedIn profile states that she worked as “Executive Assistant to Her Majesty’s Ambassador at the British Embassy in Qatar” for two years.
Born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, Neilson is one of the most influential figures in Australian art and philanthropy.
She was one of four sisters. His mother was a teacher and his father was a mechanic who later specialized in car radiators.
“Everything was humble and wonderful,” he said recently in this imprint. “This was a family. You enjoyed what you had.”
At the age of 17, she moved to South Africa to study graphic art and textile design. In 1983 he and his wife Kerr Neilson, who would become one of the giants of Australia’s fund management industry, moved to Sydney.
Following the successful rise of Platinum Asset Management, a company co-founded by her husband, in 2007, the couple’s combined wealth put them in the top 10 of the richest Australians.
Even after their divorce in 2015, they each still appear on the annual rich list with separate fortunes exceeding $1 billion.
Neilson used his wealth to fund philanthropic endeavors, including the White Rabbit Gallery, which houses one of the most important collections of Chinese contemporary art. Entry is free. Neilson also built and continues to finance Phoenix Central Park, a spectacular performing arts venue.
While his buildings have won numerous architectural awards and his private art collection is astounding, Neilson himself is not ostentatious. He avoids the ostentatious social world where his wealth would automatically guarantee entry. It is known that she does not wear jewelry often. He has an ivory-coloured Swatch watch on his wrist.
The police will allege that the following matters constitute fraud.
One of the privileges of the Centurion card is the concierge service. Before his card arrived, Spence wanted two concert tickets to see The Cure in Seattle, USA in June 2023. “It’s the best you can get – no budget,” he said in an email to the company’s “Centurion Lifestyle Team.”
He then allegedly used the card to purchase a Qantas first-class return ticket to Seattle via Los Angeles. The cost of the trip to Seattle was $45,000.
She used Neilson’s money to buy a $16,000 piece of art for a male friend she met through Neilson while in the US.
During a visit to Seattle, his friend refused to accept the gift of art and insisted on paying for it. The money allegedly went to Spence’s own account.
She then treated herself and her boyfriend to a five-night stay in the Rosewood suite at The Carlyle in New York, costing more than $6,500 per night. Police will allege Neilson’s Centurion card was billed $38,757.85 for his secretary’s stay in October 2023.
“I was paying for Bennett to get his hair done weekly,” Neilson complained about Spence’s dog visiting the pet groomer for weekly grooming. When Spence left, his dog was taken to a pet facility in Terrigal.
Spence’s eight-year tenure with the philanthropist ended on September 12 last year due to a restructuring of Neilson’s office.
Just four days into her new role as Neilson’s executive assistant, Katy Lloyd Jones noticed a very unusual charge on Neilson’s Amex bill while reconciling Neilson’s accounts.
The detailed Amex receipt showed that $58,593 was spent on a rare rose gold Rolex wristwatch from the Vintage Watch Company of London on July 19, 2025.
Lloyd Jones wrote that alarm bells were ringing as he knew in the short time he spent with his new boss that Neilson “didn’t wear jewelery and certainly didn’t wear expensive watches”.
Scanning his Amex account, Lloyd Jones found that $21,000 had been spent at luxury Knightsbridge store Harrods two days after the antique watch was purchased.
Neilson was not in London at the time.
After taking his concerns to the accounting department, it didn’t take long to identify the recently departed Spence as a suspect.
The finance department began a detailed audit of Neilson’s personal finances. As more inconsistencies came to light, Neilson’s team hired risk and crisis manager Marnie Edwards, who is also a former detective inspector with NSW Police, in November last year.
Edwards and Simon Freeman, chief executive of the Judith Neilson Foundation, have been working closely with NSW Police investigators for the past six months.
Spence was asked for comment.
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