This hasn’t been the best year for Real Housewives of Orange County OG Vicki Gunvalson. Not only is she feuding with Tamra Judge, but now she has a shocking lawsuit on her hands over allegations of elder abuse. Plus, Teddi Mellencamp has responded to news of the lawsuit on social media.
Fans will recall that Vicki left RHOC in 2020 when the network offered her a friend of role. However, she made appearances on the show during season 17 and is set to do the same this season. Of course, Tamra left the same season but has since returned.
According to In Touch Weekly, Vicki has been hit with a lawsuit over financial elder abuse and fraud. The lawsuit in question was filed in May, and she’s being sued by a woman named Diane Field, 74. The other defendants named in the lawsuit include Allianz Life Insurance Company and Coto Insurance & Financial Services. There’s also an unnamed investment company listed on the lawsuit.
Diane says she met Vicki in 2019, and the two started to discuss investments. Vicki then introduced the lady to her partner, Ali. From there, Vicki and Ali convinced Diane to get the Allianz 222 Annuity, which they promised would be a smart investment that would leave a nest egg for her kids.
According to the lawsuit, “[Vicki] kept reassuring her how safe this Allianz 222 Annuity was and also kept mentioning that her income taxes would go down if she invested in this annuity and that her kids would be well-suited after she passed away. [Vicki] was very convincing, and Diane felt that she could trust her.”
The two talked her into transferring large sums of money into the annuity, but she also alleges they convinced her to take out a life insurance policy without explaining it would cost $300,000 a year. In the beginning, she believed it would only be a one-time payment. Unfortunately, Diane’s husband passed away in 2021, and grief made her even more vulnerable. She soon added even more money to the annuity.
However, Diana started to become suspicious and then began to move money out of the annuity. In December of 2022, she brought up the concerns to Vicki and Ali by, “explaining that she felt uninformed by them and that the annuities and life insurance policy they convinced her to open did not seem to be the best investments for her, as they tie up large sums of money for a long time that she may never be able to use, for maybe longer than she will live or will be too old to enjoy.”
After the conversation, Vicki and Ali allegedly changed the policy, and the payments went from $300,000 to $100,000. She reached out to the company in April of this year, and they told her she didn’t need to make payments because she had over $600,000 in the account. However, Vicki had allegedly “repeatedly contacted” her to remind of of the $100,000 payment that the company required.
According to the lawsuit, “As of approximately April 10, 2024, the accumulation value of Diane’s Allianz life insurance policy (Policy No. xxxx4073) was $661,816.74, cash surrender value was $387,497.96 and the death benefit of $3,539,077.00. The listed agents are still both [Vicki] and [Ali]. The total premium Diane has paid on this policy as of April 10, 2024, was $1,000,000.”
Regarding the annuity, “As of approximately April 10, 2024, the value of Diane’s Allianz 222 IRA annuity (Policy No. xxxx1487) was $750,506.21.” Diane claimed Vicki “repeatedly contacted” her in March and April 2024 “to remind her of the $100,00 premium payment owed to Allianz for her life insurance policy. [Vicki] wanted to know if Diane would take the money out of her stocks and bonds accounts so [Vicki] could get the payment into Allianz for her like she usually did.”
Now, Diane is suing Vicki and Ali because she feels they convinced her to enter into bad financial investments. It should be noted that an 82-year-old woman sued Vicki for insurance fraud in 2018. However, that lawsuit was later dismissed.
Of course, Teddi didn’t miss a beat in responding to the news. She took to X to quote the story with the caption, “I HAVE NEVER ABUSED MULTIPLE ELDERS IN MY LIFE.”
