[Infowarrior] - Empire State Building "stolen"

[Richard Forno]

(Excellent reminder of what passes as 'legitimate' document controls  
these days.......rf)

It took 90 minutes for Daily News to 'steal' the Empire State Building

BY WILLIAM SHERMAN
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Tuesday, December 2nd 2008, 10:46 PM

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/12/02/2008-12-02_it_took_90_minutes_for_daily_news_to_ste.html?print=1&page=all

In one of the biggest heists in American history, the Daily News  
"stole" the $2 billion Empire State Building.

And it wasn't that hard.

The News swiped the 102-story Art Deco skyscraper by drawing up a  
batch of bogus documents, making a fake notary stamp and filing  
paperwork with the city to transfer the deed to the property.

Some of the information was laughable: Original "King Kong" star Fay  
Wray is listed as a witness and the notary shared a name with bank  
robber Willie Sutton.

The massive ripoff illustrates a gaping loophole in the city's system  
for recording deeds, mortgages and other transactions.

The loophole: The system - run by the office of the city register -  
doesn't require clerks to verify the information.

Less than 90 minutes after the bogus documents were submitted on  
Monday, the agency rubber-stamped the transfer from Empire State Land  
Associates to Nelots Properties LLC. Nelots is "stolen" spelled  
backward. (The News returned the property Tuesday.)

"Crooks go where the money is. That's why Willie Sutton robbed banks,  
and this is the new bank robbery," said Brooklyn Assistant District  
Attorney Richard Farrell, who is prosecuting several deed fraud cases.

Of course, stealing the Empire State Building wouldn't go unnoticed  
for long, but it shows how easy it is for con artists to swipe more  
modest buildings right out from under their owners. Armed with a  
fraudulent deed, they can take out big mortgages and disappear,  
leaving a mess for property owners, banks and bureaucrats.

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

Many crooks have done just that:

- Asia Smith stole her 88-year-old grandmother's house in Springfield  
Gardens, Queens, pocketing $445,000 in mortgages she took out.

"Her grandmother raised her," said Queens Assistant District Attorney  
Kristen Kane. Smith, 22, was arrested last December and is serving a  
one-year jail term for fraud.

- A man posing as someone who had been dead for 19 years deeded the  
dead man's property to himself. He then sold it to the scheme's  
mastermind, who took out a $533,000 mortgage and vanished with the cash.

- Toma Dushevic managed to steal seven dilapidated city-owned  
buildings in Brooklyn 10 years ago.

He got renovation permits, fixed up one of the buildings, and rented  
out apartments. He sold another building for $250,000 and ran his scam  
for nearly two years until he was caught. Dushevic returned the  
buildings and did 18 months behind bars.

The FBI says financial institutions filed 31% more Suspicious Activity  
Reports involving mortgage fraud last year than in 2006. Nationwide,  
lenders' losses totaled $813 million, and New York was one of the top  
10 mortgage fraud states.

In the city, deeds accepted by the register's office are recorded on  
that agency's Web site, where they are easily viewed and are the basis  
for mortgage transactions.

The News investigation disclosed that mortgage brokers,  
representatives of title companies, lending banks, lawyers and others  
in the mortgage process often failed to verify identification and  
other information provided by the thieves.

Unlike the city employees, the brokers and others should check  
mortgagors' information, their professional trade associations say.

In one Queens deed fraud case, a mortgage broker and title company  
representative are accused of taking part in the scam. They are  
charged with helping obtain $1.4 million in mortgages from two of the  
biggest banks in the city on behalf of the scammer, who has vanished.

In all cases The News reviewed, the city register's office accepted  
and recorded the fraudulent mortgages.

Unlike the thieves, The News did not obtain a mortgage on the Empire  
State Building.

Instead, The News returned the property to its rightful owners Tuesday  
- less than 24 hours after the fake deed was filed. The News also is  
withholding key details of how the scam works.

Real thieves get the mortgage cash, ripping off banks and leaving the  
properties' owners with mortgage debt and ruined credit.

"Mortgages stay with properties," Farrell explained.

When the victims don't pay the mortgages they didn't take out, lending  
banks foreclose on the properties.

A major tool thieves use is the notary stamp on documents, one item  
city employees check.

"They don't check to see if it's real, but they do check to see if  
it's there," said a lawyer familiar with the system. The stamps are  
easy to get and cost about $30.

National mortgage broker and title company trade associations said  
their members try to verify identification but can be fooled by clever  
hustlers.

"We know you can forge driver's licenses," said Marc Savitt, president  
of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

"Every time the industry finds out measures to stop fraud, the thieves  
always get one up on us."

Anne Anastasi, a member of the board of governors of the American Land  
Title Association, said, "There are people who are very good at this  
and it's hard to stop."

wsherman at nydailynews.com