On Monday, brazen Daily News reporter William Sherman (who has a Pulitzer Prize, no less!) falsified legal documents and committed real-estate fraud, swindling city workers into transferring him the deed to the Empire State Building. To pull off a caper that netted him a staggering $2 billion in equity, Sherman meticulously created a fake stamp, invented witnesses, and forged notary signatures. Hapless, overworked clerks in City Hall were fooled by his masterwork, and didn't know the spectacular crime had even occurred until Sherman, overwhelmed with guilt and terror at being caught, returned the deed to its rightful owners, the Empire State Land Associates.

Okay, okay. So it wasn't really much of a crime, and the building never technically belonged to Sherman. It was just one of those adorably inane stunts the tabloids pull to grab attention on the newsstand. But it does raise the question: If the News is so obsessed with loopholes that allow illegal activity, what about the one where journalists think they can commit crimes in the name of a "good story"?

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