The fraud at Webster started roughly a year ago. But the teachers, who dutifully filed police reports, were dismissed when trying to urge the detectives to investigate the cases in concert. Detective Mary Allen said recently. Allen, who is assigned to the West Los Angeles division where Machado's case is filed, would not comment further. A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department said it investigates identity fraud, but acknowledged that less than 1 percent of the cases are solved.
Police say that's because there is often little information with which to start an investigation.
Identity-fraud cases also are a lower priority than violent crimes, a spokeswoman said. Kathy Kristof is a personal-finance columnist with the Los Angeles Times. She welcomes comments, but cannot respond to every inquiry.