Empire State Building Stolen

It took David Copperfield only a few minutes to make the Statue of Liberty disappear.

It took The New York Daily News a little longer to seize ownership of the Empire State Building earlier this week, but when given the circumstances it’s fair to say that their efforts should still be considered rather remarkable.

In what is now being described as one of the biggest heists in American history, it took merely 90 minutes for the two-billion dollar building, which stands at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street in New York City, New York, to be stolen from Empire State Land Associates. How could it be possible for an entire building to be stolen from right under its owner’s nose? Well, it’s actually quite simple when considering a gaping loophole in the city deeds and mortgage recording system, which doesn’t necessitate a clerk to verify information before authorization goes through.

The Daily News refuses to release the exact details depicting how their heist was made possible, but stressed that overall…it really wasn’t all that difficult.

Of course, the theft didn’t go unnoticed for very long. In New York, deeds that are received by the registers office are confirmed on the agency’s website, where they are then put on display for the public. Roughly 90 minutes after counterfeit documents were presented to the agency on December 1st, 2008, the transfer from Empire State Land Associates to Nelots Property LLC, the phony group created by The Daily News for just this occasion, was approved.

“Nelots” is “stolen” spelled backwards. As though this absurdity wasn’t enough, Fay Wray, original “King Kong” star, was listed as a witness on the paperwork, while infamous bank robber Willie Sutton served as the notary.

Ownership of the building was returned on Tuesday, much to relief of its rightful proprietors.

Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney Richard Farrell, also the prosecutor of several deed fraud cases, told The Daily News, "Crooks go where the money is. That's why Willie Sutton robbed banks, and this is the new bank robbery.”

The aim behind this heist, if not to take permanent control of New York’s current tallest building? To prove how easy it really is to exploit loopholes such as this, allowing con artists to filch less noticeable buildings away from their rightful owners.

"Once you have the deed, it's easy to obtain a mortgage," Farrell grimly added.

Perhaps now, the city will see what exactly in the system it has to change so something like this doesn’t happen again—because next time, the thieves might not be so cordial about returning the stolen property before damage can be done.

Source: FoxsNews.com