RHOC star sues a financial advisor for allegedly ruining reputation

Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson is countersuing a financial advisor, claiming he lied and encouraged a mutual client to sue her over alleged elder abuse.

The reality star, 64, alleged that Gary Vyneman’s badmouthing caused her to lose business and led to her being sued for millions of dollars, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Mail.

Diane Field, then 74, sued Gunvalson in late May 2024, accusing the celebrity insurance broker and her business partner, Ali Hashemian, of fraud, negligence and elder abuse in relation to life insurance policies and annuities.

Gunvalson vehemently denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

In her countersuit, Gunvalson claimed Vyneman convinced Field that the Bravo star had given her shady advice and sparked the elder abuse lawsuit. Gunvalson said she exercised good judgment when it came to Field’s money. 

The Daily Mail has reached out to Gunvalson for comment and has yet to hear back.

Real Housewives of Orange County star Vicki Gunvalson is countersuing a financial advisor, claiming he lied and encouraged a mutual client to sue her; pictured on June 5

Field said in her lawsuit, which was filed in the Superior Court of California in Orange County, that Gunvalson and Hashemian misled her amid a series of financial dealings, according to court documents.

Gunvalson, her company Coto Insurance & Financial Services and Allianz Life Insurance Company were named in the lawsuit.

Field said in legal documents that she and her late spouse George Field had $6 million in ᴀssets as result of investing in stocks and funds following an inheritance from her mother, who pᴀssed away in 2002.

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Field said that her spouse George had been involved in a bicycling accident that left him ‘seriously injured’ in 2002, at which time she took over the management and decision-making in terms of their financial portfolio, per the docs.

Field alleged that she had been advised in 2016 to place her money in an Allianz 222 annuity, an insurance company’s contract that minimizes the taxes a person pays while establishing a consistent source of monetary income.

Field’s attorneys said that the cash in the account had not been touched, as Field had earmarked it ‘for the sole purpose of growing it for her daughter.’

Field said she initially crossed paths with Gunvalson at a dinner in 2019 put on by the reality star’s company, Coto Insurance & Financial Services.

Field said in legal docs that Gunvalson was keen to do business with her, offering her a ‘safer diversified plan’ earmarked to ‘help lower the taxes she had been paying’ and boost the ‘future/potential financial capital for her children.’

The reality star, 64, alleged that Gary Vyneman’s badmouthing caused her to lose business and be sued for millions of dollars, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail

A client named Diane Field sued Gunvalson in late May 2024, accusing the celebrity insurance broker and her business partner, Ali Hashemian, of fraud, negligence and elder abuse in relation to life insurance policies and annuities

In her countersuit, Gunvalson claimed Vyneman convinced Field that the Bravo star had given her shady advice and sparked the elder abuse lawsuit

Field alleges that she had been dealing with ‘anguish and trauma’ at the time, as her husband’s health was in peril, leaving her vulnerable to outside influences.

Field told the court that both Gunvalson and Hashemian suggested to her that she should purchase life insurance but had ‘failed to tell her how much it would cost and instead focused on why it would be a good deal.’

Field claims Hashemian informed her that the life insurance pact had been a ‘one and done’ transaction totaling $300,000 that would result in her family receiving $6,000,000 at the time of her death.

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Field said in court docs the life insurance deal pitched to her had been ‘intentional, misleading, and false misrepresentation,’ as the $300,000 was a recurring fee each year as opposed to one time.

Field told the court that amid ‘the despair [she] was suffering from as [her husband’s] health was spiraling,’ she inked a pact with Gunvalson in December of 2019 ‘in reliance on … fraudulent sales tactics’ the reality star practiced.

Field remitted a payment of $300,000 in February of 2021, doing so as she believed her hands were tied and that she had ‘no other choice’ in the matter, she said in court docs.

Field’s spouse George died in October of 2021, at which time she said Gunvalson and Hashemian advised her to put her late spouse’s money into a different annuity account they said would financially help her.

In September 2022, Field had received a lung cancer diagnosis, and underwent surgery months later in December.

Gunvalson is back as a main cast member of The Real Housewives of Orange County for season 20, which premiered on Thursday; pictured, L-R, Tamra Judge, Gunvalson, Emily Simpson, Gina Kirschenheiter, Shannon Storms Beador, Braunwyn Windham-Burke and Kelly Dodd

Field said in legal docs that she paid out another $300,000 premium into the account in February of 2022; by the end of the year she said that she felt ‘uninformed’ about the financial deals she made with Gunvalson and Hashemian.

Field told the court that she thought that the deals would have tied ‘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,’ but her questions to Gunvalson and Hashemian went ‘unanswered.’

In April of 2023, Field allegedly let Gunvalson know she was upset with the deal. She subsequently inked a new pact that had a $100,000 premium payment resulting in a death benefit that would pay $3.6 million from years four to 10, and $1.45 million in the 11th year, the outlet reported.

Field said in court docs that she had to sell off stock ᴀssets in order to garner the $100,000 payments required for the premium.

Gunvalson’s lawyer told Us Weekly at the time of the suit that the accusations against the reality star were ‘completely false.’

The attorney said: ‘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,’ the attorney said, adding: ‘She vehemently denies the false allegations made against her in the lawsuit.’