Vicki Gunvalson was accused of “financial elder abuse” in a lawsuit filed in May. Vicki, 62, is being sued by a woman named Diane Field. Defendants in Diane’s filing are Allianz Life Insurance Company, Coto Insurance & Financial Services, and another investment company.
The claims:
According to reports from In Touch, “Diana, 74, said for 22 years, from 1997 to 2019, her and her husband George Field invested 90 percent of their joined net worth in stocks and mutual funds with a firm in Orange County, California.”
“Diane said they were able to live off their work salaries and pensions and did not need to take money out of these accounts, except to pay taxes. In 2002, George, 85, was seriously injured in a bicycle accident and Diane took over control over their finances. Diane said her and her husband had around $6 million.”
“The money was held in an investment account and a separate account they put money in for their daughter. In 2019, Diane said she met Vicki after her friend scheduled an appointment with the RHOC star to talk investments. At the meeting, Diane said Vicki was not interested in working with her because she didn’t have at least $500,000 to invest.”
“Vicki told her she could help manage her finances and suggested her investing in Allianz annuities. Diane said she was not interested in annuities and was more comfortable in the stock market because ‘she and George’s finances had always been in stocks and mutual funds, which she understood.'”
Manipulated?
The Real Housewives of Orange County personality “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.”
She was convinced to “transfer funds in stocks to an outside firm managed at Fidelity Investments.” Allegedly Vicki “had her take out a life insurance policy without telling her it cost $300,000 a year.” This is why she’s pressed charges against Vicki. She alleged she used “fraudulent sales tactics and her promises that this annuity would help lower her income taxes.”
Misled?
“In early 2021, Diane said another $300,000 payment was made for her life insurance policy even though she believed it was a one-time payment not a yearly payment. She said he made the payment because she felt like her hands were tied. George passed in October 2021. In December 2022, Diane underwent surgery to remove lung cancer. In early 2021, she said Vicki persuaded her to put more money into the Allianz annuity.”
“Around February 2022, Diane paid another $300,000 premium on the life insurance policy.” She started to question why she was paying this yet again, “as this was not what had promised.” But, she went ahead and did it anyway.” All the while, her “husband had recently passed away and she was still mourning his loss (and she was recovering from her own hip surgery).”
“In December 2022, she told Vicki she was concerned about their investment recommendations over the years. She explained “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.”
Diane said Vicki called her and they modified the new life insurance policy and she ended up paying a premium of $100,000 on the new policy in April 2023.
Vicki’s lawsuit, in a nutshell:
Diane accused Vicki of financial elder abuse claiming [she] had her “enter into harmful deals. The lawsuit demanded unspecified damages for the defendant’s alleged conduct.”
ICYMI:
This isn’t the first time the OG of the OC was in legal trouble over an alleged fraudulent insurance policy. Vicki was sued by an 82-year-old woman named Joan Lile for alleged fraud over a life insurance policy she was sold.
“The claims alleged against Gunvalson are completely false,” claimed Vicki’s lawyer. “Gunvalson has always acted professionally and with the utmost truthfulness and integrity in every transaction that she acted as an insurance agent for her clients. She has never engaged in any fraudulent conduct nor misrepresented any terms of any policy. She vehemently denies the false allegations made against her in the lawsuit by Mrs. Lile.” The suit was dismissed months later.
The lawsuit filed by Diane remains active.
