Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Jury goes against magician
Copperfield unable to recoup $500,000
By CARRI GEER THEVENOT
REVIEW-JOURNAL
A federal jury ruled against magician David Copperfield on Tuesday in his attempt to recoup $500,000 he said he spent to retrieve show equipment from a company linked to the Russian mafia.
Copperfield filed a lawsuit in August 2000 that accused Fireman's Fund Insurance of improperly denying a claim that arose from the ordeal.
Jurors deliberated about 5 1/2 hours before ruling in favor of the insurance company.
Attorney Bruce Laxalt, who represents Fireman's Fund, argued that the basis for the insurance claim "was misrepresented to the company as criminal extortion."
"This was always a business dispute gone awry instead of the overly dramatic characterization put forth by Mr. Copperfield and his organization," Laxalt said.
Copperfield testified during the Las Vegas trial but was not present when the verdict was read in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben. New York attorney Leslie Trager said he will, with Copperfield's approval, file motions seeking to overturn the verdict.
According to Copperfield's lawsuit, the saga began after his final Moscow performance in December 1999, when papers known as "Carnet papers" disappeared.
Those papers permitted Copperfield to shuttle more than $4 million worth of show equipment in and out of Russia without paying taxes. Without the papers, the trucks containing the equipment could not legally leave the country, according to the lawsuit.
Two days after the papers vanished, Copperfield learned they were being held by the Ris LisS Corp., "which was reputed to be linked to the Russian mafia," the lawsuit alleged.
Company officials said Copperfield would have to pay for the return of the papers or face the destruction of his property, according to the lawsuit.
To aid in the negotiations, Copperfield hired Investigative Group International, which hired an ex-KGB officer to help with the case.
In January 2000, IGI informed Copperfield that Ris LisS had agreed to return the papers in exchange for $250,000. The magician then wired $282,305 to IGI, an amount intended to cover the payment to Ris LisS, as well as the fees of IGI and the ex-KGB officer.
Copperfield then filed an insurance claim seeking reimbursement of $506,343 spent retrieving the property. Included in this claim was the payment sent to IGI, plus fees paid to a law firm and money spent on rental equipment.
