Vicki Gunvalson is being sued for financial elder abuse, negligence, fraud and other claims in a lawsuit filed by a 74-year-old woman who was a client of hers and her Coto Insurance company.
Diane Field alleges in the suit filed in May at the Superior Court of California in Orange County and obtained by Page Six Wednesday that she was taken advantage of by the Bravo star and her business partner Ali Hashemian.
Field claims in the docs that she and her late husband, George Field, had a combined net worth of $6 million due in part to investments they had made in stocks and funds she inherited from her deceased mother in 2002.
When George became “seriously injured” in a bicycle accident that same year, Diane took control of managing both their finances as well as her inheritance.
In 2016, she was advised to put the funds into an Allianz 222 annuity, which is when an insurance company offers a contract that should help reduce an individual’s taxes and ensure a steady flow of income.
“Diane has always left the money in this account (never been touched) for the sole purpose of growing it for her daughter,” the complaint states.
Then in 2019, Diane met Gunvalson at a dinner hosted by her company, Coto Insurance and Financial Services, in which the “Real Housewives of Orange County” alum allegedly took an interest in her fortune.
Gunvalson, 62, allegedly promised Diane a “safer diversified plan” that would also “help lower the taxes she had been paying” and increase “future/potential financial capital for her children.”
Diane admits that at the time she was especially vulnerable, being plagued by “anguish and trauma,” as her husband’s health was not doing well.
She was allegedly then advised by Gunvalson and Hashemian to invest in life insurance but they “failed to tell her how much it would cost and instead focused on why it would be a good deal.”
Hashemian, in particular, allegedly told Diane that the contract was a “one and done” deal of $300,000 to cover the $6,000,000 payout for her family when she passed.
Diane now says that agreement was “intentional, misleading, and false misrepresentation” because the $300,000 was an annual fee not a one-time payment.
Around Dec. 6, 2019, however, Diane signed the deal “in reliance on Gunvalson’s fraudulent sales tactics” combined with “the despair Diane was suffering from as George’s health was spiraling.”
Diane continued to experience more personal issues when she was then diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2022 and had surgery that following December.
In February 2021, she allegedly felt her hands “were tied up” when she was asked for an additional $300,000 payment, and so she paid it again because she felt like she had “no other choice.”
When George passed in October 2021, Gunvalson and Hashemian were again allegedly persuading her to transfer her late husband’s funds into a separate annuity account, claiming it would be to her benefit.
In February 2022, she then paid another premium of $300,000. However, by December of that year, she recognized she had gone into the contracts with Gunvalson and Hashemian feeling “uninformed.”
She felt the agreement would “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,” per the complaint.
“These were all unanswered questions that Diane never received an explanation about,” the lawsuit, first obtained by In Touch Weekly, further claims.
By April 2023, Diane had expressed her disappointment and at that point signed a new deal with a premium payment of $100,000 instead that would give her a $3.6 million death benefit for years four to 10, and then lower death benefit in year 11 to $1.45 million.
However, she had to sell some of her stock in order to make that $100,000 premium payment.
When this past April rolled around — and another $100,000 was due again — Diane claimed Gunvalson was calling her “repeatedly” to remind her of her annual payment.
However, Diane decided to directly contact Allianz, the financial services company overseeing her annuity account, and was allegedly told by a rep that “she does not have to send any payment in at all” because she in fact had an “excess” of funds in her account.
The lawsuit concludes, “Defendants planned and engaged in their pattern of elder financial abuse with malice, oppression, and fraud.”
In response to the lawsuit, Gunvalson’s lawyer told us she is denying the claims.
The official statement read, “Victoria Gunvalson is a well-respected insurance broker with more than 34 years of experience. She has helped thousands of clients. Ms. Gunvalson vehemently denies each and every allegation of Diane Field’s Complaint against Ms. Gunvalson and Coto Insurance Services.
“Ms. Gunvalson followed the direction of her client, Diane Field, in placing the insurance products Ms. Field requested regarding the annuities and the life insurance policy.”
Gunvalson, through her lawyer, alleged that she :did not engage in any conduct that could be considered financial elder abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, or fraud” and “remains committed to the highest standards of integrity and transparency.”
“Needless to say, we are outraged by the false allegations being made against her. We will vigorously defend her good name and reputation in this lawsuit,” the statement concluded.
The “Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” alum has been sued before by another former client.
In 2019, Joan Lile, an 82-year-old woman, claimed she paid Gunvalson and her company increasing premiums but was not able to receive her promised benefits when her husband passed away.
However, the suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means it could not be refiled.
Now that Gunvalson is facing new legal accusations, one of her enemies is relishing over the ordeal.
Teddi Mellincamp — whom the reality star has openly said she does not like — trolled Gunvalson via X on Tuesday, writing, “I HAVE NEVER ABUSED MULTIPLE ELDERS IN MY LIFE,” which is a spin on one of Gunvalson’s iconic “Housewives” moments.