Suspects accused of stealing a spouse’s identity rarely face prosecution

By Kaylee Tornay, InvestigateWest

Kaylee Tornay is InvestigateWest’s reporter covering labor, youth and health care. Reach her at Kaylee@investigatewest.org or 503-877-4108.

This story was originally published by InvestigateWest, a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to change-making investigative journalism. Sign up for their Watchdog Weekly newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.

PORTLAND, OR – A Multnomah County grand jury indicted the wife of a Portland woman on identity theft and forgery charges this month, a reversal after Portland police dropped its investigation last year because of a “lack of tangible leads.”

Laura McCabe faces seven felony charges related to alleged identity theft against her wife, Danielle Del Prado, who told InvestigateWest her story in September after the criminal investigation stalled. At that time, law enforcement and the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said legal complexities and limited resources were the main barriers to investigating Del Prado’s case.

Pat Dooris, spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office, said collaboration with an Oregon Department of Justice financial crimes investigator was critical to moving the case forward. Del Prado said the investigator contacted her just five days after InvestigateWest’s story highlighted the barriers victims like her face when seeking prosecution against the spouses they say used their identity fraudulently.

“I was elated,” she said. “I said, ‘Finally, somebody’s listening.’”

Michael Korcek, the investigator, played a key role in gathering information via subpoenas and bank records, Dooris said. Korcek and a Department of Justice spokesperson declined to comment, citing the criminal case. Korcek and Del Prado are listed as the only names on the grand jury witness list.

Del Prado said she also turned over hundreds of pages of her financial records, which she had pulled from banks across the country, trying to hunt down every application that used her Social Security number, sometimes with her name and other times with McCabe’s.

McCabe, who now lives in Montana, did not respond to two requests for comment by email. A day after the indictment was filed, she was arrested in Billings and held in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility, jail records showed. She was released after posting bond. Now, Portland authorities are preparing to ask Gov. Tina Kotek to extradite McCabe to Oregon to face the charges.

“The paperwork is underway,” Dooris said. Defendants who face extradition have a right to contest the process, though some waive their right to do so. McCabe has not waived her right, Dooris said.

Del Prado said she discovered the identity theft in February 2023, when someone from the fraud department of Gesa Credit Union in Washington left her several frantic voicemails, trying to verify applications for a loan and a line of credit in her name. Del Prado had been abroad and did not apply for the loans, she said. When she started examining her credit report, Del Prado found close to 50 institutions had done hard checks on her credit for dozens of other loans and lines of credit. She had never heard of some of them.

By now, Del Prado said she has found unauthorized applications totaling more than $417,000, including $31,350 in loans and lines of credit that were approved.

Even as Del Prado compiled her records and communications with McCabe, when she approached police in late 2023 and early 2024, she was told that the couple’s divorce case, filed last March, was the best place for her to work out her claims.

“Often, a civil resolution is sought because it’s challenging to prove there wasn’t some kind of verbal agreement and the case may require forensic accountants and more resources than police or the district attorney’s office can provide,” said Terri Wallo Strauss, Portland police spokesperson.

Criminal identity theft cases involving spouses remain rare, according to experts. According to the national Identity Theft Resource Center, an organization that provides resources to prevent and recover from identity theft, just 4% of victims of identity misuse in 2023 named ex-spouses or partners as the offending party. Kevin Demer, senior deputy district attorney in Multnomah County, said through a spokesperson that identity theft is “not often charged as a criminal matter between spouses.”

Del Prado said she pushed for a criminal case because McCabe is suing her for financial support under the affidavit that Del Prado signed to sponsor McCabe for a green card.

Del Prado is also suing McCabe for $6.2 million for claims of identity theft, emotional distress and other damages. That lawsuit is ongoing.