

[Editor's Note: Whether Copperfield is or isn't guilty of raping a woman in the Bahamas is not the issue. The issue is the illegal and unconstitutional behavior of 12 FBI agents in seizing two million dollars from Copperfield's property in Las Vegas. The FBI may or may not have obtained a search warrant to search for "evidence" (of a rape?), which maybe could justify taking a computer hard drive, but what possible justification is there for taking this man's money, other than the "justification" that all fascists employ of Might makes Right?

OK, it's routine for the police or FBI to seize cash from people clearly involved in drug dealing, but how does that apply here? Surely, Copperfield is a wealthy man and it's not at all uncommon for people of wealth to keep large amounts of cash in their possession. So what? How does the presence of 2 million in cash in Copperfield's building in Las Vegas somehow hint at criminal possession? Why not take the paintings off the wall and Houdini memorabilia as well? What is the difference between the behavior of the German Gestapo and SS when it removed the cash, paintings and silverware from the homes of innocent Jewish owners in Europe and what the FBI did to David Copperfield?

The man is innocent until he's PROVEN guilty in court at a trial with 12 jurors. This guy hasn't even been ACCUSED of anything! The FBI supposedly launched an INVESTIGATION. Seizure by law enforcement of people's property or financial assets merely based on someone's accusation or allegation against them is illegal and unconstitutional in the extreme . When will legal, academic, and constitutional scholars in this country SPEAK UP and denounce these outrageous acts of criminal misconduct and launch lawsuits to end this egregious maltreatment of American citizens?...Ken Adachi]

By Ken Lee and Mark Gray

http://educate-yourself.org/cn/fbilootdavdicopperfield20oct07.shtml

October 20, 2007

FBI Loot Magician David Copperfield of 2 Million Cash Based on Woman's Allegation of Bahama Rape (Oct. 20, 2007)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20153177,00.html

FBI Raids Magician David Copperfield's Warehouse

THURSDAY OCTOBER 18, 2007



Magician David Copperfield has been linked to an FBI investigation, authorities confirmed Thursday.

A Las Vegas warehouse operated by Copperfield was raided by 12 agents Wednesday night, TV station KLAS reports. A computer hard drive, digital camera system, and nearly $2 million in cash were seized, the station reports.

"The only thing we're confirming right now is that there was some investigative activity in the Las Vegas area yesterday connected with a Seattle-area case, both of which are pending," said Robbie Burroughs, spokeswoman for the Seattle division of the FBI.

Copperfield's attorney, David Chesnoff, says in a statement: "We understand there is an investigation, (we) are in touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation."

Copperfield, easily one of the most well-known magicians, performs monthly in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand. He just finished a two-week engagement at the hotel last week, and is scheduled to return Nov. 15-28.

His warehouse, located in an industrial section of the city, is rarely seen by anybody other than magic scholars, according to Forbes magazine, which got a rare glimpse last year.

The magazine said the two-story building, which Copperfield calls the International Museum & Library of the Conjuring Arts, contains "an Ali Baba's trove of sports cars, vintage automatons, gargoyle heads, gadgetry and an electric chair," as well as 80,000 books, illusions, posters and memorabilia.

Copperfield is among the richest entertainers in the world. According to Forbes, Copperfield earned $57 million in 2003, ranking him that year as the 10th-highest paid globally.

Copperfield was once engaged to the supermodel Claudia Schiffer, but the couple split in 1999 after six years together.

http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/14373260/detail.html

FBI Investigates Copperfield For Sexual Assault

Investigation Stems From Alleged Assault In Bahamas

POSTED: October 18, 2007



UPDATED: 11:00 am PDT October 19, 2007



LAS VEGAS -- There have been new details released in the FBI Investigation of David Copperfield.

FBI raids of magician Copperfield's Las Vegas property are in connection with a rape claim made by a Seattle woman, law enforcement sources told FOX News. The woman told Seattle police the magician raped her while she was in the Bahamas.

Because the alleged incident happened abroad and the woman did not report it until she returned to the United States, Seattle authorities turned over the case to the FBI.

Copperfield has been contacted by law enforcement authorities and the FBI has conducted an investigation in Las Vegas, where the magician regularly performs, his lawyer and the FBI confirmed.

Copperfield's Las Vegas attorney, David Chesnoff, issued a statement on the case Wednesday night:

"We understand there is an investigation, are in touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation."

Copperfield has a warehouse in Las Vegas that he has dubbed the International Museum and Library of the Conjuring Arts. He stores tricks and memorabilia from around the world at the warehouse.

"The investigation is related to a Seattle case. The Seattle case is pending and that means we can't say anything about it," Seattle FBI Agent Robbie Burroughs said.

Copperfield, 51, has been a longtime performer at the Hollywood Theater at the MGM Grand casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, where he has performed in six- to eight-week stints several times a year, said MGM Mirage Inc. spokeswoman Yvette Monet.

Stay with FOX5 News or refresh fox5vegas.com for continual updates to this story.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4243896a1860.html

FBI raids David Copperfield and finds millions

Reuters | Saturday, 20 October 2007



FBI agents have raided a Las Vegas warehouse owned by magician David Copperfield – for reasons they did not disclose – and media reports said that they seized nearly $2 million ($NZ2.69 million) and computer equipment.

The FBI declined to say why it raided the Las Vegas warehouse, confirming only that it related to an investigation out of 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.

He declined to give further details.

The warehouse is where Copperfield keeps his props and maintains an office.

Media reports said FBI agents seized nearly $2 million in cash from the building, along with a computer hard drive and a memory chip from a digital camera system during Wednesday's late-night operation.

"We understand there is an investigation, are in touch with the investigators, and are respecting the confidentiality of the investigation," Copperfield's attorney David Chesnoff said in a statement cited by Las Vegas broadcasters.

Chesnoff and Copperfield's publicist could not be reached for further comment.

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, 51, whose real name is David Kotkin, is famed for stunts such as making the Statue of Liberty disappear and walking through the Great Wall of China. He is a regular performer at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas.

Reader Comments

Subject: Copperfield

From:RT

Date: Sun, October 21, 2007

To: Editor

I enjoyed your piece on Rense.com about avid Copperfield.

The whole situation smacks of official Oppression, but by whom?

First, the alledged rape alledgedly occured in the Bahamas, and was not even reported to Bahamian Authorities, only US Authority months after? Last I knew the US did not have any authority in the Bahamas.

Cooperfield knows a good looking woman when he sees one and they are throwing themselves at his feet all the time and would be willing to fulfill any fantasy he had including a rape scenario!

Did the FBI have a genuine/ bona fide search warrant signed by a Federal Judge? Or have the Feds started issuing blank search warrants, the Gestapo used metal discs as their search warrant.

David Copperfield has become politically active lately and has let it be known that he for one is dissatisfied with the Bush Cabal. The rape allegation is a veiled threat to Copperfield and those like him, monied and infuential, to keep thier mouths shut or suffer the consequences. After all, the Law means nothing to those in power.

RT

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