Who is Diane Field? 74-year-old lung cancer survivor sues 'RHOC' star Vicki Gunvalson
ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Vicki Gunvalson, star of 'The Real Housewives of Orange County', is being sued for elder financial exploitation. The lawsuit, which was filed by Diane Field, who claimed she had fallen victim to "fraudulent sales tactics" when she was persuaded to work with the Bravolebrity, named Vicki along with her business partner, Coto Insurance & Financial Services, and Allianz Life Insurance Company, as reported by RadarOnline.com on July 30.
Diana said in her lawsuit that from 1997 to 2019, she and her husband George Field invested ninety percent of their combined net worth with a Californian business based in Orange County in equities and mutual funds. Diane stated that they did not need to withdraw money from these accounts—aside from paying taxes—because they could live off of their work wages and pensions.
After George suffered severe injuries in a cycling accident in 2002, Diane assumed responsibility for their money. Diane claimed to have about $6 million, together with her spouse.
They kept the money in an investing account and added money to another account for their daughter. Diane said in 2019 that she first met Vicki when a friend made an appointment for the 'RHOC' star to discuss investing.
Vicki didn't want to work with her buddy since she didn't have at least $500,000 to contribute, according to Diane at the discussion. Diane said that Vicki offered to assist her with money management and recommended that she buy Allianz annuities.
"Since she and George's finances had always been in stocks and mutual funds, which she understood," Diane claimed she had little interest in annuities and felt more at ease in the stock market. "As he had the expertise in the stock market, and that together they could put her in a safer diversified plan that would also help lower the taxes she had been paying," the lawsuit said that Vicki advised Diane to speak with her partner Ali.
Diane claimed she agreed to see Ali and expressed interest in having her taxes reduced. She also mentioned that she subsequently met with Vicki and Ali.
According to the lawsuit, Diane said they offered to reduce her income taxes and boost her children's future and prospective financial resources.
'RHOC' star Vicki Gunvalson's partner made Diane Field take out $300K/annually life insurance
Diane said that George's health had taken a "deep dive" at about the same period. The lawsuit stated, "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."
Diane reported that she discussed investment in more detail with Vicki and Ali. The lawsuit claimed that she was given the assurance that the Allianz 222 Annuity was a secure and prudent investment that would provide profits.
“[Vicki] 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,” the suit presented.
Diane said that Vicki used "fraudulent sales tactics and her promises that this annuity would help lower her income taxes" to persuade her to transfer money into the Allianz 222 Indexed Annuity. She also claimed that Ali had her take out a life insurance policy without disclosing to her the cost of $300,000 annually.
Diane said that at the beginning of 2021, an additional $300,000 was paid for her life insurance policy, despite the fact that she thought this was a one-time rather than an annual payment. She said that he paid because she was feeling helpless.
October 2021 marked George's passing.
'RHOC' star Vicki Gunvalson and her partner forced Diane Field to make another $100K payment
Diane had surgery to eliminate lung cancer in December 2022. She said that early in 2021, Ali and Vicki convinced her to increase her investment in the Allianz annuity.
Diane paid an additional $300,000 payment for the life insurance policy in February 2022. Her husband had recently died, and she was still in sorrow (as well as recuperating from her own hip surgery), so she paid the bill even though she began to wonder why she was doing it again.
"As this was not what [Ali] had promised," she added.
She claimed to have removed her funds from the Ali-managed account in August 2022. "Explaining 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," she wrote in December 2022 in response to Vicki and Ali's investment recommendations over the years.
Diane stated that they adjusted the new life insurance policy over the phone with Vicki. Diane stated that in April 2023, she paid a premium of $100,000 for the new coverage.
“As of approximately April 10, 2024, the accumulation value of Diane’s Allianz life insurance policy (Policy No. xxxx4073) was $661,816.74, cash surrender value was $387,497.96 and the death benefit of $3,539,077.00. The listed agents are still both [Vicki] and [Ali]. The total premium Diane has paid on this policy as of April 10, 2024, was $1,000,000,” the suit noted.
As of approximately April 10, 2024, the value of Diane’s Allianz 222 IRA annuity (Policy No. xxxx1487) was $750,506.21. In March and April 2024, according to Diane, Vicki "repeatedly contacted" her to remind her that she still owed Allianz $100,000 for her life insurance policy.
In order for Vicki to make the payment to Allianz on her behalf as she always did, Vicki needed to know if Diane would withdraw the funds from her stocks and bond accounts. In April 2024, Diane claimed to have contacted Allianz personally to inquire about the due date.
An Allianz representative then informed Diane that, because she was previously paying $300,000 in premiums a year, she had over $600,000 in her account. She said the Allianz representative informed her that because of this surplus in her account, she did not need to transfer any payments.
Diane claimed that Vicki and Ali had forced her to make risky business decisions, accusing them of financial elder abuse. Unspecified damages were sought in the complaint for the defendant's purported actions.
'RHOC' star Vicki Gunvalson was sued in 2018 by 82-year-old Joan Lile
An 82-year-old lady called Joan Lile sued Vicki back in 2018 alleging that she had been duped into buying a life insurance policy.
"The claims alleged against Gunvalson are completely false," stated a lawyer for Vicki.
"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."
Months later, the claim was dismissed. Diane is still in litigation over her case.
