Stanford imposter Azia Kim may get off easier than many have expected, despite national coverage of her eight-month masquerade as a Stanford student. Neither law enforcement agencies nor the University is planning to take action against Kim, rendering restitution penalties or criminal charges for the 18-year-old Long Beach native unlikely.

In the only confirmed investigation into the matter, Vice Provost for Student Affairs Greg Boardman appointed Associate Dean of Students Chris Griffith to identify where the University’s system of identifying enrolled students is lacking.

The scope of that investigation, however, does not extend to bringing charges against Kim, and Griffith said that she has “not been asked to address the issue of restitution.”

The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, which would ultimately decide whether to bring Kim to court, also said that it is unlikely that any criminal charges would materialize.

“I don’t know if it ever will be [brought to our attention],” said Assistant DA Dave Tomkins. “We may never see this case.”

Tomkins said the case would first have to be referred to the DA by law enforcement officers. University spokesperson Kate Chesley said that police are working on the case.

"The police are definitely conducting an investigation," Chesley said.

But a spokesman for the Stanford Department of Public Safety (DPS) said that he could not confirm whether the department was pursuing an active investigation regarding Kim.

“I don’t know if we are pursuing a case or not,” deputy Chris Colindale said. “I haven’t asked that question.”

The U.S. Army also seems uninterested in punishing Kim for joining the Reserve Officers Training Corp (ROTC) program at Santa Clara University by posing as a Stanford student. She was equipped with around $1,300 of military equipment and received dozens of hours in training from military officers.

Army spokesman Robert Rosenburgh called what Kim did in the ROTC “a harmless prank” and said the Army would not try to punish her.

“In terms of any lawbreaking, fraud or wrongdoing, there is nothing to suggest that she broke any kind of military regulations,” Rosenburgh told the Los Angeles Times. “Her instructors said she was a good student and they had no reason to suspect her.”

Kim’s roommate in Okada, Amy Zhou ‘08, filed a report with the DPS after finding out that Kim had broken into her email account, but the police told her that all they could do was evict Kim if she came back to campus.

Griffith, who became the interim director of the Band after investigating last July’s vandalism at the group’s Shak, said that the first steps of her investigation will be to gather all the facts.

“I’ll begin by meeting with people who are likely to have the most information about her time here at Stanford,” Griffith said in an email to The Daily, adding that she did not want to speculate further on the direction of the investigation in its early stages.

A majority of 40 students interviewed by The Daily Tuesday said they think Kim should have to pay restitution. According to official Stanford Housing policy, unauthorized visitors can be charged $175 per day, bringing Kim’s eight-month liability up to $42,000 — if the University were to press the issue.

Senior Staff Writer Lia Hardin contributed to this report.