Reuters North American News Service, October 19th, 2007
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The FBI has raided magician
David Copperfield's warehouse and a theater where he performs
in Las Vegas following sexual misconduct accusations by an
unidentified woman, authorities and his lawyers said
Friday.
The FBI would not disclose the nature of its investigation
of Copperfield, saying only that federal agents had raided the
Las Vegas warehouse as part of a criminal probe based in
Seattle.
"We're just confirming that investigative activity took
place at the warehouse," David Staretz, chief division counsel
for the FBI in Las Vegas, told Reuters.
Published reports said the woman had come forward in
Seattle to accuse the popular illusionist of sexual misconduct
while both were in the Bahamas, and that agents had seized some
$2 million and computer equipment.
"It is important these allegations be put into perspective,
his attorney, David Chesnoff, said in a prepared statement
released through his law firm.
"An unidentified woman has made serious allegations against
David Copperfield," Chesnoff said.
"Although authorities have not revealed her identity to us,
we know these allegations are false because David Copperfield
has never forced himself on anyone."
Chesnoff could not be reached to discuss the case further.
Copperfield, 51, uses the Las Vegas warehouse as an office,
for rehearsals and to store memorabilia and props and keeps an
apartment on the second floor, the Las Vegas Review-Journal
newspaper reported.
A spokesman for MGM Grand hotel said FBI agents also
searched its Hollywood Theatre, where Copperfield performs
regularly, but declined to discuss the matter further.
Copperfield is next scheduled to appear there in November.
Media reports said FBI agents seized nearly $2 million in
cash from the warehouse, along with a computer hard drive and a
memory chip from a digital camera system during Wednesday's
late-night operation.
The local CBS affiliate, KLAS-TV, quoted a source as saying
the cash was stashed in a safe and that agents took the cash.
Copperfield, whose real name is David Kotkin, is famed for
such illusions as making the Statue of Liberty disappear and
walking through the Great Wall of China.
(Additional reporting by Ian Mylchreest in Las Vegas and
Elaine Porterfield in Seattle)
