David Copperfield
Gossip

Or at least that's the idea.

Remember, like two years ago, when a 21-year-old woman claimed she met master illusionist David Copperfield at a show, one thing led to another and she wound up getting raped at Copperfield's $50 million private Bahamian retreat?

No? Well, she said that. An FBI investigation was launched, however he was never charged. Now, the accuser has filed a civil lawsuit against the magician.

Copperfield so adamantly denies the allegation that he not only released a statement defending himself but set up his own innocence-proclaiming website.

David Copperfield went over Niagara Falls in a barrel and made the Statue of Liberty disappear. Surely he can clear his name of minor sexual abuse allegations.

David claims the woman "has a history of lying" and even once told friends she could "take a guy down" if she wanted. He notes that no charges were filed.

"Nothing of the sort ever happened," the magic man insists.

"This lawsuit is extortion for money, plain and simple. Unfortunately, false claims like this only hurt the women who really have been abused and really need our help."

In other words, she's pulling an Andrea McNulty.

Master illusionist David Copperfield is under the microscope of the law enforcement community after a woman accused him of sexual assault.

But why did the FBI go and raid his warehouse and seize his possessions - which included a digital camera equipment and a hard drive to a computer?

TMZ reports that Copperfield designed part of his magic shows around "a system for picking up women."

During shows, David goes into the audience and chooses women to come on stage.

If David likes a girl, he uses code words with assistants like "mama" and "secrecy."

The assistants then mark the women on a map of the inside of the Hollywood Theater at MGM Grand, where he frequently performs. After the show, the women are brought backstage, and that's where his profiling begins.

The women are told that David may use them in his show when he comes to their hometown. They are then photographed with a digital camera, asked questions like, "What is your favorite men's cologne?" and "Where do you like to vacation?"

One of those vacation spots mentioned by staff is the Bahamas, where David Copperfield's accuser claims she was assaulted. Copperfield owns a cluster of islands in the Bahamas, which he bought for $50 million.

This may explain the FBI's interest in David Copperfield's digital camera system and hard drive. If the accuser is a woman who was brought on stage - and who he met in this fashion - the FBI would surely be interested.

Copperfield's attorney re-issued his earlier statement in response to this story: "It is important these allegations be put into perspective. An unidentified woman has made serious allegations against David Copperfield. While authorities have not revealed her identity to us, we know these allegations are false because David Copperfield has never forced himself on anyone."

Under investigation for rape, David Copperfield has canceled upcoming shows in Southeast Asia following an FBI search of his Las Vegas warehouse and a casino theater where he regularly performs.

"His management sent an e-mail to organizers Sunday to inform that his shows will be postponed indefinitely," a Thai spokesman said Monday.

Copperfield was scheduled to perform shows in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in coming weeks. The cancellations came as the FBI conducted searches in Las Vegas last week after allegations that David Copperfield "forced himself" on an unidentified woman while in the Bahamas.

David Copperfield's lawyer, David Chesnoff, has said the allegations against the magician "are false, as David Copperfield has never forced himself on anyone."

Neither law enforcement officials nor Chesnoff has provided details about the investigation. The woman's identity is also being kept confidential.

Chesnoff said shows were canceled as tour operators in Asia defaulted on their contracts. "Those are serious allegations," he said. "But there's no truth to them."

Promoters of some Asian shows are trying to negotiate with David Copperfield's management to reschedule the performances or recoup some of their losses.

"We are told by Copperfield management that David's show had been canceled by the artist," said Peter Basuki, whose company was organizing a Jakarta show. "With this, we have lost more than $1 million. Business is business. We want to make a profit. But this is making us lose money."

Wonder if he can make this one disappear.

Magician David Copperfield is being investigated by the FBI, authorities say, although they won't comment about the nature of the investigation.

Agents raided the legendary magician's belongings Wednesday night. A search was conducted of a warehouse in Las Vegas where Copperfield stores items for his show. The raid reportedly stems from an ongoing case in Seattle.

The nature of the case? Federal authorities in Seattle apparently are involved in an investigation of David Copperfield for "possible sexual misconduct by the illusionist," according to a source in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

According to the Las Vegas newspaper, David Copperfield's accuser said that the alleged misconduct occurred outside the U.S., but the case came under the FBI's jurisdiction because the accuser is a U.S. citizen.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called local authorities seeking comment but did not get far. A spokeswoman for the FBI's Seattle office declined to discuss aspects of the case on the grounds that the investigation is pending.

A separate TV news station reported that at a dozen federal agents "stormed" a warehouse connected to David Copperfield, seizing a computer hard drive, a digital camera system and nearly $2 million in cash.

David Chesnoff, Copperfield's lawyer, said: "There is an investigation, we are in touch with investigators, and respect the confidentiality of the investigation."

UPDATE: The FOX News Channel is reporting as of Friday afternoon that a Seattle woman is alleging that David Copperfield raped her.

The woman told Seattle police the magician committed rape while she was in the Bahamas in July. Because the alleged incident happened outside the country and the woman did not report the alleged incident until she returned to the United States, Seattle authorities turned the case over to the FBI.

Sources say that no rape kit was done on the alleged victim in the Bahamas, which could make prosecution of David Copperfield for rape difficult.

Regardless, David's situation sounds serious. It's enough to make the marital troubles faced by fellow illusionist, Criss Angel, seem tame by comparison.

More to come ...