New Alliances

By Desa Philadelphia/New York

When magician DAVID COPPERFIELD found himself in a bind he couldn't escape, he got some real masters-of-the-universe help from former CIA and KGB insiders. After a Dec. 12 performance in Moscow, Copperfield had his seven trucks and all his equipment seized by the Russian promoters, who claimed he owed them money. The State Department was unable to help, and after three weeks without his trucks, a desperate Copperfield turned to IGI, a security agency populated with former CIA and FBI insiders. The ex-spooks reached out to the KGB vets they had spied on in the past. "In Russia, they are the people that know the terrain the best," says IGI vice president Jack Devine. "They know how to negotiate." Evidently. According to Devine, the "negotiators" came up with an agreement "which was comfortable for all parties." The ordeal cost Copperfield more than $500,000, but on Jan. 15 his magic convoy finally disappeared from Russia, crossing the border into friendlier Finland.

--By Desa Philadelphia/New York