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‘RHOC’ alum Vicki Gunvalson sued by 74-year-old woman for financial elder abuse and fraud

  2024-08-06 pagesixEileen Reslen7080
Introduction

Vicki Gunvalson is being sued for financial elder abuse, negligence, fraud and other claims in a lawsuit filed by a 74-y

‘RHOC’ alum Vicki Gunvalson sued by 74-year-old woman for financial elder abuse and fraud

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 Pvnew 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.

Vicki Gunvalson on vacation.
Vicki Gunvalson is being sued by a former client.
Vicki Gunvalson.
Diane Field is suing Gunvalson for fraud, elder abuse and other claims. Bravo via Getty Images

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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.”

Vicki Gunvalson.
Gunvalson sells life insurance via her company, Coto Insurance and Financial Services.
Vicki Gunvalson.
Diane claims that Gunvalson uses “fraudulent sales tactics.”

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.

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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.”

Ali Hashemian and Vicki Gunvalson.
Diane is also suing Gunvalson’s business partner Ali Hashemian. Vicki Gunvalson/Facebook
Vicki Gunvalson.
Diane alleges the duo persuaded her into signing a contract with an annual $300,000 premium of which she was not initially aware. Bravo via Getty Images

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.

Vicki Gunvalson and her Real Housewives of Orange County
Gunvalson rose to fame on “The Real Housewives of Orange County.” NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Vicki Gunvalson, Tamra Judge and Shannon Beador.
Despite becoming a reality star, she maintained her day job. Getty Images

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.

Vicki Gunvalson.
Gunvalson is accused of making Diane pay a premium she did not have to. Scott Kirkland/Shutterstock
Vicki Gunvalson.
“Defendants planned and engaged in their pattern of elder financial abuse,” the complaint reads. Charles Sykes/Bravo via Getty Images

The lawsuit concludes, “Defendants planned and engaged in their pattern of elder financial abuse with malice, oppression, and fraud.”

Pvnew has reached out to Gunvalson, Hashemian and Coto Insurance for comment but did not immediately hear back.

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.

Vicki Gunvalson.
Gunvalson has not yet addressed her new lawsuit. Getty Images
Teddi Mellencamp's tweet a<i></i>bout Vicki Gunvalson's lawsuit.
In the meantime, her foe Teddi Mellencamp has trolled her over the suit online. TeddiMellencamp/X

However, the suit was dismissed with prejudice, which means the woman could file again at a later time.

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.

(By/Eileen Reslen)
 
 
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