The private secretary of billionaire philanthropist Judith Neilson allegedly used multiple credit cards owned by her employer to make luxury purchases including goods from Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Gucci and a box at a Coldplay concert, and arranged a transfer of almost $38,000 for wooden bowls, court documents reveal.
Annalouise Spence, 51, was refused bail last week after being charged with 68 counts of dishonestly obtaining property by deception after she allegedly made unauthorised purchases totalling $1.6m.
She was arrested last week in Erskineville, in Sydney’s inner west, after officers executed search warrants at the home and a storage unit in Campbelltown, police said. Police allegedly found 115 items, seizing luxury handbags, jewellery, clothing, documents and other personal items.
In Spence’s charge sheet, seen by Guardian Australia, police allege she obtained a credit card in her own name through Neilson’s American Express account, without her employer’s authority, between February and March 2023.
The document reveals she also allegedly used five other cards in Neilson’s name to make purchases dating back to December 2019, more than two and a half years after Spence began working as her private secretary in March 2017. Her employment ended in September 2025, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
They allegedly include tens of thousands of dollars of purchases of artwork, as well as luxury items from brands such as Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Gucci, and almost $6,000 spent on “plush mattress toppers” in July 2021.
The Herald reported that Spence had paid for concert tickets for the Cure in Seattle, US, in June 2023. Spence has been charged for allegedly purchasing the tickets, alongside first class Qantas return flights to Seattle via Los Angeles as well as baseball tickets totalling $29,118.
In November 2023, police allege Spence also paid $2,520 using one of Neilson’s American Express cards for access to a box at a Coldplay concert in Australia.
Police allege Spence transferred 500,000 Qantas frequent flyer points valued at $7,600 from Neilson’s account to her own in June 2023. She has also been charged with dishonestly purchasing “multiple domestic and international flights” from Qantas.
She allegedly used the American Express card in her own name to pay $38,757 for a hotel stay in New York in October 2023, as well as a three-day holiday rental in May that year in Mudgee in Central West NSW “with friends”.
In November 2024, police also allege Spence arranged for $37,651.50 to be transferred without authorisation “to pay for three wooden bowls” from one Jim Meekhof.
A Google search reveals a website for a Jim Meekhof based in Maui, Hawaii, a “master wood artist”, who produces wood turnings including “decorative bowls to fire globes, inspired by Pele, the goddess of Hawaiian volcanos and fire”.
The Herald reported that Neilson attended Spence’s 50th birthday party unaware that she herself had allegedly paid for it. Spence has been charged for allegedly making the booking at the 5-star hotel Capella Sydney in mid-2024, as well as purchasing 320 napkins monogrammed “AS”.
The charges state Spence also allegedly used the credit card in her own name to make a $3,900 booking in Tasmania for her husband’s 50th birthday later that year.
Spence’s alleged dishonest purchases include Imax tickets, personalised diamond and gold jewellery and $15,837 on a custom racing bike and servicing.
She has also been charged with dishonestly purchasing “thigh high boots and pants” from womenswear and leather goods company Khaite, as well as “pants, hats, swimming costumes, various handbags or totes” from online retailer Mytheresa and clothing from Zara and Lululemon.
Neilson, who founded the Judith Neilson Institute in 2018 to the tune of $100m, has wide philanthropic interests and owns the White Rabbit art gallery in Chippendale. The institute “champions quality journalism and storytelling in Australia”, according to its website.
According to the Australian Financial Review’s 2025 rich list, Neilson has a net worth of about $1.2bn.
At a hearing on 23 April, Spence’s lawyer, Bryan Wrench, sought bail, saying his client – who appeared via video link – had paid back almost $850,000 to her employer, who she had been “completely engaged with” since October 2025.
He said his client had not worked since then, suffered from bipolar disorder and complex PTSD and was on a “shopping list of medications” for her conditions.
The judge, Lucas Swan, said repayments appeared to be admissions to a number of the charges, refusing bail on the grounds the case against Spence was “overwhelming” and if found guilty a custodial sentence was likely. Each of Spence’s charges carries a maximum ten-year sentence.
Spence has not entered a plea. The matter returns to court on 7 May.
