The former private secretary of billionaire philanthropist Judith Neilson has been charged with 68 counts of fraud after allegedly using a business credit card to make more than $1.6 million worth of unauthorised purchases.
Annalouise Spence, 50, was arrested at her home in Erskineville, Sydney, and refused bail at a local court hearing the following day.
NSW Police allege Spence used a business credit account to make unauthorised purchases of luxury items including clothing, artwork and jewellery between March 2023 and September 2025.
Officers executing search warrants at her home and a storage unit in Campbelltown located and seized luxury handbags, jewellery, clothing and documents.
According to court documents, the alleged purchases totalled $1.6 million. Police located 115 items during the search.
The investigation began in November last year into alleged fraudulent expense claims made by an employee of a Chippendale business. Neilson, who founded the Judith Neilson Institute in 2018 and owns the White Rabbit art gallery in Chippendale, has a reported net worth of $1.2 billion.
Spence began working as Neilson’s private secretary in March 2017, according to her LinkedIn profile. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the alleged fraud was detected after a restructuring of Neilson’s office resulted in Spence leaving her role in September last year.
Neilson’s new executive assistant reportedly noticed discrepancies while doing the accounts, including a $58,600 bill for a rare pink-gold Rolex and a $21,000 Harrods bill when Neilson was not in the UK.
The Herald reported Spence allegedly spent $400,000 on travel, $335,000 on fashion items and $184,000 on jewellery. She is also said to have transferred almost one million of Neilson’s Qantas frequent flyer points and withdrew thousands of dollars in cash, claiming it was for her employer’s overseas travel.
Spence’s lawyer told the court his client had repaid almost $850,000 to her employer since October 2025 and had not worked since then. He said she suffered from bipolar disorder and complex PTSD and had spent a month in a mental health facility last year.
Magistrate Lucas Swan refused bail, saying the strength of the case appeared overwhelming and that if convicted, a custodial sentence would be inevitable.
Spence has not entered a plea. The case was adjourned until 7 May. Police said investigations are continuing.
