• Most Popular
  • Most Shared
A shopper browses the bread section at a Wal-Mart store in Santa Clarita, California April 1, 2008. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

The food-stamp economy

On the last day of every month, shoppers at Walmart load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. Is this the new normal in America?  Full Article 

FBI raids magician David Copperfield in Vegas

LOS ANGELES
Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:55pm EDT

Related Video

Video

Copperfield warehouse raided

Fri, Oct 19 2007
Illusionist David Copperfield in a file photo. FBI agents have seized nearly $2 million in cash from a Las Vegas warehouse owned by Copperfield, local media reports said on Thursday. REUTERS/Claro Cortes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 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 and computer equipment.

U.S.  |  Entertainment  |  People

The FBI on Friday 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.



More from Reuters

Photo

U.S. health bill nears crucial Senate test vote

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With 60 votes in hand, Senate Democrats cruised on Sunday toward an expected victory on the first of three crucial test votes that will put a broad healthcare overhaul on the path to passage by Christmas. | Video

A woman shops at a Sam's Club store, a division of Wal-Mart Stores, in Bentonville, Arkansas June 4, 2009. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

The food-stamp economy

On the last day of every month, shoppers at Walmart load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. Is this the new normal in America?  Full Article 

Two men shake hands in a file photo.    REUTERS/File

Let's make a deal

The battered M&A sector will make a tepid recovery in the coming year and three hot sectors will lead the way, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis.  Full Article