Assistant Coach Bandit Strikes Again in Huntington Beach Loan Scam

HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA—Be careful who you trust your money with. A Huntington Beach Assistant Coach, dubbed the Assistant Coach Bandit by the FBI, is facing additional charges for defrauding over $40,000 from six victims through a loan modification scam.

James Allen Ramsdell, a 51-year-old resident of Huntington Beach, was additionally charged today with five felony counts of grand theft and one felony count of grand theft from an elder. Ramsdell has a long history with a laundry list of previous felonies to his credit.

He was previously charged with one felony count of grand theft, one felony count of foreclosure consultant unlawful advance fee, one misdemeanor count of loan modification unlawful advance, and a sentencing enhancement for a prior prison conviction of a serious and violent felony for bank robbery in 2009 in the San Diego federal court for bank robbery. At the time of the bank robbery in San Diego--along with four other banks in Orange County in the Cities of Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, and Tustin--Ramsdell had been coaching youth baseball and soccer in Orange County and the FBI dubbed him the "Assistant Coach Bandit."

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years and eight months in state prison, according to Roxi Fyad, Spokesperson for the Orange County District Attorney's office in recent release.

Ramsdell is out of custody on $120,000 bail and was arraigned today--Aug. 11--on the additional charges. He is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing Sept. 15, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.

Between March 1, 2014, and Nov. 1, 2015, Ramsdell is accused of offering to provide loan modification services to Jane Doe.

"He is accused of illegally collecting an upfront fee of approximately $920, after the victim had received a bank notice of default on her mortgage," according to Fyad.

Ramsdell is accused of instructing the victim to write multiple checks to complete the loan modification but never performing any services, according to report.

"Ramsdell is accused of operating his fraudulent loan modification/foreclosure consultant firm under the fictitious name of Ramsdell Consulting, and the fictitious name of Melissa Hurley--specifically when communicating with Jane Doe," she stated.

The defendant is also accused of receiving multiple checks from the victim and cashing them, defrauding over $10,000 from the same woman.

"After having never received modifications on her home loan, Jane Doe submitted a fraud report to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) Bureau of Investigation," Fyad's report stated. OCDA investigated this case and arrested the defendant on April 29, 2016.

After further investigation by the OCDA Bureau of Investigation, it was discovered that Ramsdell is accused of running a similar scam against five other victims defrauding them out of over $30,000 between Sept. 25, 2014, and May 20, 2015.

Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Damon Tucker at (714) 648-3615

Senior Deputy District Attorney Pete Pierce of the Major Fraud Unit is prosecuting this case.