Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson stands accused of financial elder abuse and fraud in a lawsuit recently filed by 74-year-old Diane Field.
According to InTouch Weekly and Page Six, Field accused Gunvalson and her business partner Ali Hashemian of taking advantage of her after she turned to them for financial advising.
The documents detail Field’s working relationship with Gunvalson and Hashemian which began in 2019, after Field took control of her and her husband’s finances when he became seriously injured. They had a $6 million net worth at the time, which InTouch notes was held in an investment account, while she also kept a separate account for their daughter.
When she met Gunvalson, the suit claims the RHOC star recommended Field meet with Hashemian, who could “put her in a safer diversified plan that would also help lower the taxes she had been paying.”
Field claims Gunvalson and Hashemian convinced her to take out a life insurance policy but “failed to tell her how much it would cost and instead focused on why it would be a good deal.” The woman claimed Hashemian told her the policy only required a “one and done” payment of $300,000, which she later realized was not true when she learned it was an annual fee when she was asked to pay it again in February 2021.
She made the payment, alleging in the lawsuit that she felt her hands “were tied” and that she had “no other choice.”
In December 2022, she voiced her concerns of feeling “uninformed” by Gunvalson and Hashemian, noting that the annuities and life insurance policy she committed to because of them “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.”
The business partners then modified the new life insurance policy and asked that Field pay a premium of $100,000 on it in April 2023. But Field was later expected to make the payment again in 2024, and Gunvalson “repeatedly contacted” her to remind her.
“[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,” the lawsuit states.
Field then reached out directly to Allianz, who told her she didn’t need to send any payments because she had an “excess” of funds in her account.
Throughout this saga, Field states she was dealing with the “anguish and trauma” of losing her husband in October 2021. She was also diagnosed with lung cancer in 2022.
“Defendants planned and engaged in their pattern of elder financial abuse with malice, oppression, and fraud,” the lawsuit states.
Gunvalson’s attorneys denied the allegations, stating, “Victoria Gunvalson is a well-respected insurance broker with more than 34 years of experience. She has helped more than 7000 clients. She vehemently denies each and every allegation set forth against her by Diane Field in this lawsuit.”
Their statement continued, “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. Ms. Gunvalson did not engage in any conduct that could be considered financial elder abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, or fraud… Needless to say, we are outraged by the false allegations being made against her. We will vigorously defend her good name and reputation.”
InTouch notes Gunvalson was previously sued for alleged fraud by an 82-year-old woman over a life insurance policy she was sold.
However, that lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in 2022.
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