Feds Target Copperfield's House of Tricks
David Copperfield may not have been able to believe his eyes, but that really was the FBI combing through his Las Vegas warehouse.
A dozen agents from Seattle carted away a computer hard drive, a memory chip from a digital camera and close to $2 million in cash during a late-night raid Wednesday on the famed magician's Sin City storage space, according to local station KLAS-TV.
An FBI spokesperson said that out-of-state agents get involved when tips originate in their area.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal, citing an unidentified law-enforcement source, reports that the seizure was "connected to an investigation of possible sexual misconduct by the illusionist" that originated in Seattle.
Copperfield's attorney issued a statement confirming that the search took place.
"We understand there is an investigation, [we] are in touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation," lawyer David Chesnoff said.
As for the possible sexual misconduct, Chesnoff issued an additional statement Friday:
"It is important these allegations be put into perspective. An unidentified woman has made serious allegations against David Copperfield. Although authorities have not revealed her identity to us, we know these allegations are false because David Copperfield has never forced himself on anyone."
"Unfortunately false allegations are all too often made against famous individuals. But we are confident the investigation will conclude favorably," Chesnoff told the Review-Journal.
The FBI's Las Vegas office also told KLAS that agents had made a stop at one of Copperfield's frequent performance spots, the MGM-Grand on the Vegas Strip, where the illusionist is scheduled to appear for a two-week engagement at the Hollywood Theater starting Nov. 15.
Once again, the government agency wouldn't go into detail about what authorities were looking for at the hotel or how it factored into the investigation, but it would confirm that the MGM itself was not the target.
Meanwhile, still remaining in Copperfield's two-story treasure trove is a heady, 80,000-piece mix of collectibles and perception-deceiving devices.
The 51-year-old entertainer, who, according to Forbes, banked $57 million in 2005, keeps, among other things, a stash of vintage sports cars, gadgets, quirky stuff like gargoyle heads and an old electric chair, 15,000 magic books, Houdini memorabilia, posters, playbills, centuries-old documents, and various trick apparatuses in the warehouse he has dubbed the International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts.
Access to the collection is usually only granted to scholars looking to research and write about the illusionary world, but no disappearances, transferences, levitations, cutting-in-halves or other unexplainable phenomena were reported to have taken place during the raid.
According to Copperfield's Website, he performs more than 500 shows a year all over the world (not all at once—nobody's that good). Before heading back to the MGM-Grand, he'll be bringing his Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. Then, after Vegas, it's off to the United Arab Emirates.
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