America’s favorite insurance saleswoman has some legal trouble on her hands. Court records show that Vicki Gunvalson is facing a shocking lawsuit from a 74-year-old woman claiming to be the victim of financial elder abuse.
Ever since we met Vicki on Real Housewives of Orange County, she has proudly boasted about her financial service and life insurance business. Supposedly, she’s the expert, but according to this elderly woman, Vicki led her down a dangerous path of unwise investments.
Allegedly misled by Vicki
In Touch got their hands on the court documents, which show that a woman named Diane Field sued Vicki, Allianz Life Insurance Company, Coto Insurance & Financial Services, and another investment company. Diane filed the suit back in May, but the details are just now coming to the surface.
According to Diane, she and her husband, Gary Fields, had a $6 million fortune primarily held in stock market investments. Her husband managed the finances for most of their marriage, but when his health took a downturn, Diane took control.
In 2019, Diane met with Vicki and her partner Ali to seek investment advice. Vicki agreed and started offering solutions that would “lower her income taxes and increase future/potential financial capital for her children.”
Allegedly, Vicki started suggesting annuities to Diane, but she wasn’t interested. Diane told her she preferred the stock market because that’s what she understood. Vicki acknowledged her request and looped in a Coto partner named Ali. He was supposed to help Diane make the best financial decisions and manage her accounts.
Vicki and Ali eventually persuaded Diane to invest in Allianz annuities. That’s when things went left. According to the lawsuit, Ali and Vicki employed “fraudulent sales tactics” to convince Diane to start transferring money into Allianz annuities. They also convinced her to buy a life insurance policy, but Diane didn’t know it would cost her $300,000 annually. Meanwhile, her husband’s health was severely deteriorating.
“Looking back, Diane thinks the anguish and trauma she was enduring at this time contributed to her letting herself put her trust in [Vicki] and [Ali] as they seemed so sincere and appeared to be working for Diane’s best interest,” the suit claimed.
Diane’s accusations of fraud and elder abuse by Vicki Gunvalson
Between 2021 and 2022, Diane paid $600k towards the life insurance policy she didn’t know she took. During that time, Gary passed and Diane dealt with health problems. With this, Diane felt like her “hands were tied.” She just made the payments and focused on healing.
By the end of 2022, Diane tried to move her money out of accounts managed by Ali. She also spoke to Vicki about updating her life insurance policy. They determined a new plan that reduced her annual premium to $100k, which Diane paid in April 2023.
In April 2024, Diane started getting calls from Vicki “to remind her of the premium payment owed to Allianz for her life insurance policy.”
The suit explained, “[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.”
Instead of following up with Vicki, Diane contacted Allianz directly to get more information about the requested payment. Diane was advised she didn’t owe anything because there was already an excess of $600k in her account from the previous years. That left Diane wondering why Vicki would try to get her to pay another $100k if it wasn’t needed.
Vicki hasn’t responded to the lawsuit, but this isn’t her first time facing these types of accusations. In 2019, a widow sued Vicki and claimed that her company defrauded her. That case was dismissed.
Real Housewives of Orange County can be streamed on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE LAWSUIT AGAINST VICKI? DO YOU THINK THIS CASE WILL GET DISMISSED LIKE THE PREVIOUS CASE AGAINST HER COMPANY?
