Latest / The Morning Edition / The Australian philanthropist and the alleged $1.6 million sequin-studded fraud

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The Australian philanthropist and the alleged $1.6 million sequin-studded fraud · The Morning Edition

• 0:01
  S1: It's shaping up to be a story of profound betrayal.
• 0:05
  S1: If the allegations are proven in court, on the one
• 0:08
  S1: hand is one of Australia's most influential and richest philanthropists
• 0:13
  S1: a woman who doesn't use email or indeed a computer.
• 0:16
  S1: On the other is her personal secretary, whom she entrusted
• 0:20
  S1: with access to her intimate personal and financial details. I'm
• 0:26
  S1: Samantha Cylinder Morris, and you're listening to Morning Edition from
• 0:29
  S1: The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Today, chief investigative
• 0:33
  S1: reporter Kate McClymont on the case of Judith Neilson. Anna
• 0:38
  S1: Louise Spence and the alleged $1.6 million sequin studded fraud. Welcome, Kate,
• 0:46
  S1: back to the podcast.
• 0:48
  S2: Oh, thank you for having me, Sam.
• 0:50
  S1: Well, let's get stuck in. Can you start off by
• 0:53
  S1: telling us just a little bit about who Judith Neilson
• 0:56
  S1: is and how she amassed her fortune, because it's massive.
• 1:01
  S1: And I believe she grew up in pretty humble circumstances. Right?
• 1:04
  S2: I know, look, it's really interesting because, uh, Judith Neilson
• 1:08
  S2: grew up in Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, and her
• 1:13
  S2: mother was a teacher and her father was a mechanic
• 1:16
  S2: who later specialized in car radiators. Now, she said that
• 1:20
  S2: she had a pretty humble, pretty modest background. Now, at
• 1:26
  S2: the age of 17, she moved to South Africa and
• 1:29
  S2: she later meets Kurt Nilsen, who is South African. They
• 1:34
  S2: moved to Australia in about 1983, and her husband goes
• 1:40
  S2: on to be one of the absolute giants of Australia's
• 1:44
  S2: funds management industry. And so even after their divorce in 2015,
• 1:50
  S2: both her former husband and herself constantly feature in the
• 1:56
  S2: rich lists. You know, both having fortunes of more than
• 2:01
  S2: $1 billion each. Now, the interesting thing is, is that
• 2:04
  S2: Judith has used a lot of her money for philanthropy.
• 2:11
  S2: You know, things like she set up the White Rabbit Gallery,
• 2:14
  S2: which hosts an astonishing collection of Chinese art.
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  S3: Neilson has so many pieces of art, individual pieces beyond
• 2:22
  S3: what's in the gallery, that she had to create this
• 2:24
  S3: specially designed, one of a kind building.
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  S4: I cannot harbor something. If I enjoy it, I'll make
• 2:32
  S4: jolly sure that I have a good go at making
• 2:35
  S4: you enjoy it.
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  S2: And you can go and see it for free. And
• 2:38
  S2: she's done the same thing with Phoenix Central Park, which
• 2:43
  S2: is this stunning performing arts center. And she also donates
• 2:47
  S2: a lot of money to charity, especially female, um, impoverishment
• 2:54
  S2: charities both in Australia and in Africa.
• 2:59
  S1: Okay, so that's Judith Neilson and as you've written, she
• 3:02
  S1: is not showy, but she's obsessed with art. She famously
• 3:06
  S1: doesn't use email or computer, which I guess is partly
• 3:10
  S1: why she trusts her personal secretary or did. So tell us.
• 3:14
  S1: I guess a bit about Anna Louise and how she
• 3:16
  S1: met Judith Neilson.
• 3:18
  S2: Well, look, she was born in Ireland and as a
• 3:22
  S2: child she came to Australia with her parents and two sisters.
• 3:27
  S2: According to her CV, she actually attended Jamison High School
• 3:32
  S2: in Penrith, and she later worked as an executive assistant
• 3:37
  S2: at the Starlight Foundation, which is another charity. In 2014,
• 3:42
  S2: she married rally car driver Adam Spence and she joined
• 3:46
  S2: the Judith Neilson family office. It's actually quite a you know,
• 3:51
  S2: it's got a CEO, it's got a finance department. It's
• 3:54
  S2: a big deal managing all Judith's philanthropy and interest. So
• 3:58
  S2: she joined that in 2017. She basically looked after Judith,
• 4:06
  S2: as in she organised her travel arrangements. Her household management,
• 4:12
  S2: you know, various things like that. And she also lived
• 4:16
  S2: next door to Judith. So Anna Louise and her husband
• 4:20
  S2: lived rent free in this architecturally gorgeous house right next
• 4:27
  S2: to her boss. And she would accompany her on overseas travel. Just,
• 4:31
  S2: you know, just help with everyday things. Now, I think
• 4:35
  S2: the key to this is, as you said, Judith, who
• 4:39
  S2: will be 80 this year, does not use a computer.
• 4:43
  S2: She doesn't have email. And this is what the police
• 4:47
  S2: will allege allowed her to take advantage of her boss.
• 4:54
  S1: Okay, so now Anna Louise Spence is accused of orchestrating
• 4:58
  S1: fraud against her former employer. So can you please tell
• 5:03
  S1: us about that? Tell us about what we've learned.
• 5:06
  S2: Okay, so in February 2023, Judith Neilson applies for a
• 5:14
  S2: black Amex card. Now, the black Amex cards are also
• 5:18
  S2: known as the Centurion Card. And I think there's only
• 5:22
  S2: 6000 people in Australia who have them. You have to
• 5:26
  S2: be basically super wealthy, and it costs quite a lot
• 5:29
  S2: of money to to join and to have a yearly subscription.
• 5:35
  S2: But once you get this card, like one of its
• 5:38
  S2: great benefits is this concierge service. You can get them
• 5:42
  S2: to get you tickets, book restaurants, get fancy hotels for you.
• 5:47
  S2: So about two weeks after Judith gets her card. Police
• 5:52
  S2: will allege that Anna Lewis thought, well, look, you know what?
• 5:56
  S2: I might ask if I can have a supplementary card
• 6:00
  S2: attached to Judith's account.
• 6:02
  S1: Well, okay, so there's a lot of expenses going on
• 6:06
  S1: this credit card because among them, I mean, some of
• 6:08
  S1: them are quite jaw dropping, right?
• 6:10
  S2: And in fact, in court last week, it was alleged that,
• 6:14
  S2: um her frauds, um, possibly amount to $1.6 million, but
• 6:22
  S2: a lot of it was spent on um, first class travel.
• 6:26
  S2: There was extravagant hotel stays. Um police will allege that
• 6:30
  S2: one of them was at the Carlyle in New York
• 6:35
  S2: where she went with a male friend that was $38,700
• 6:42
  S2: for five nights. I mean, that is almost 6500 dollars
• 6:48
  S2: per night. She was living allegedly quite a luxurious lifestyle.
• 6:55
  S1: And then there was Anna Louise Spencer's 50th birthday party.
• 7:00
  S1: So tell us about that.
• 7:01
  S2: Well, the 50th birthday party took place on the 26th
• 7:06
  S2: of April last year. So it's almost exactly a year
• 7:10
  S2: since that party took place. And it was at the, um,
• 7:14
  S2: the Capella Hotel, which is this ultra luxurious hotel in Sydney.
• 7:20
  S2: So she'd hired something called the the McRae bar. And
• 7:24
  S2: you walk past these, you know, black mirrored walls and
• 7:28
  S2: there's chandeliers, etc.. So Judith Neilson goes along to her
• 7:34
  S2: personal secretary's 50th birthday party. And as she is, uh,
• 7:39
  S2: you know, resting her wine glass on a monogrammed napkin
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  S2: and looking at her secretary who's wearing a $1,200 sequined,
• 7:51
  S2: I have to say, polyester, um, long dress, you know, with,
• 7:56
  S2: you know, the gold handbag and the flowers. ET cetera.
• 7:59
  S2: ET cetera. She doesn't realize that allegedly she is paying
• 8:05
  S2: for the whole thing, including the $1,000 for the monogrammed
• 8:12
  S2: cocktail napkins.
• 8:15
  S1: After the break.
• 8:16
  S2: Almost $60,000 had been spent on a pink gold Rolex watch.
• 8:24
  S2: But she knows Judith doesn't wear jewelry.
• 8:33
  S1: Tell us how this was even discovered, because it's sort
• 8:37
  S1: of through happenstance, right?
• 8:38
  S2: So Anna Louise got this card in my early March 2023. Now,
• 8:46
  S2: two years later, Judith Neilson is restructuring her office and
• 8:51
  S2: she doesn't think that she needs the the services that
• 8:54
  S2: Anna Louise was providing. She decided that she wanted to
• 8:57
  S2: go a slightly different way, and from my understanding, Anna
• 9:01
  S2: Louise was offered a different role in the office, but
• 9:06
  S2: she decided to leave. So literally, she's gone one week.
• 9:11
  S2: The very next week, Judith's new personal secretary, Katie Lloyd-Jones,
• 9:17
  S2: is just going through the accounts and just finalising them,
• 9:22
  S2: just checking one off against the other. She noticed that
• 9:28
  S2: in July of 2025, almost $60,000 had been spent on
• 9:37
  S2: a pink gold Rolex watch at a vintage watch shop
• 9:42
  S2: in London. And then she's going through the American Express bill,
• 9:46
  S2: and she sees that, you know, only two days later,
• 9:49
  S2: another $21,000 is spent at Harrods, which of course, people
• 9:56
  S2: will know as the Upmarket department store, also in London,
• 10:01
  S2: so she hasn't been working for Judith for long. But
• 10:03
  S2: she knows Judith doesn't wear jewellery and she's wearing a
• 10:07
  S2: swatch watch, so she just checks with Judith, who wasn't
• 10:12
  S2: in London at the time. And then Katie Lloyd-Jones alerts
• 10:16
  S2: the finance department, and it's very soon. Um, you know,
• 10:21
  S2: this is what police will allege. Anna Lewis Spence was
• 10:25
  S2: the one who spent this.
• 10:27
  S5: It was the billionaire's best friend. But police allege Judith
• 10:30
  S5: Neilson's personal assistant instead swindled millions of dollars behind her back.
• 10:35
  S5: Anna Louise Spence was released on bail today.
• 10:37
  S2: And it was interesting.
• 10:38
  S5: Um.
• 10:39
  S2: In court last week because, of course, last week, Anna
• 10:44
  S2: Louise Spence was her house was raided. We even had
• 10:48
  S2: video from the neighbours. You can hear the police shouting,
• 10:54
  S2: you know, police search warrant, open up.
• 10:57
  S6: Search warrant.
• 11:01
  S2: Before they bash down her Erskineville door, and she was
• 11:06
  S2: charged with 68 fraud related offences. And during her bail application,
• 11:12
  S2: it was said that she had paid some of the
• 11:17
  S2: money back when confronted. Now she is innocent until proven guilty. So.
• 11:22
  S2: And they are only allegations at the moment.
• 11:28
  S1: And so tell us about Judith Neilson's reaction to this
• 11:32
  S1: suspected betrayal. Like, what does she say this has been
• 11:34
  S1: like for her?
• 11:35
  S2: Well, when I spoke to her, she just said that.
• 11:39
  S2: You know what? Um, I know people will think that
• 11:41
  S2: I'm very wealthy, and what do I care? But she said,
• 11:46
  S2: this is money that should have been going or could
• 11:49
  S2: have been going to people in need. And that's what
• 11:52
  S2: really upsets me.
• 11:55
  S1: Okay, well, tell us about Anna Louise Spence's side of things.
• 11:58
  S1: What does she say? Or has she said about these
• 12:01
  S1: allegations against her? Does she plan to fight the charges? Uh,
• 12:05
  S1: because I believe there was some mention in court made
• 12:08
  S1: of her perhaps struggling with her mental health.
• 12:11
  S2: Yes. So she did not say anything in court. And
• 12:15
  S2: she has lawyers representing her. So the interesting thing was, though,
• 12:20
  S2: that the judge did not grant her bail. So last
• 12:24
  S2: week was her bail application and it was refused. So
• 12:30
  S2: she will spend her 51st birthday party not having a
• 12:34
  S2: lovely celebration at the Capella, but in custody. So we
• 12:38
  S2: don't know what she will say. But her lawyer did
• 12:41
  S2: say to the court that following these allegations being made
• 12:46
  S2: against her in, um, September and October last year, she
• 12:52
  S2: has been diagnosed with complex post traumatic stress disorder and
• 12:57
  S2: also bipolar disorder. And he also said that she spent
• 13:01
  S2: a month in Saint John of God Hospital. So no
• 13:06
  S2: doubt her issues with her mental health will feature at
• 13:11
  S2: some stage during her forthcoming court case. And when that
• 13:16
  S2: will play out or how long it will take. We
• 13:19
  S2: don't currently have any idea. The matter will be back
• 13:22
  S2: in court for mention on May the 7th.
• 13:26
  S1: Well, you've certainly been dogged, as you are with all
• 13:28
  S1: your cases that you follow. So thank you so much, Kate,
• 13:32
  S1: for your time.
• 13:33
  S2: Oh my pleasure indeed.
• 13:37
  S1: In other news, today, inflation is set to reach a
• 13:40
  S1: three year high, with analysts predicting near 5% as the
• 13:44
  S1: war against Iran drives up prices on everyday goods. Meta,
• 13:49
  S1: TikTok and Google could be forced to pay tens of
• 13:52
  S1: millions of dollars for local journalism under draft laws released
• 13:56
  S1: on Tuesday and move over strength training because eccentric exercise.
• 14:01
  S1: What happens when we lower a weight rather than pick
• 14:03
  S1: it up can be just as beneficial, according to a
• 14:06
  S1: new study. You can read more at the age.com.au or smh.com.au.
• 14:15
  S1: Today's episode of The Morning Edition was produced by Tammy Mills.
• 14:19
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  S1: the show notes. I'm Samantha Selinger Morris. Thanks for listening.