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Private investigator Gregg Dietz has traveled to distant shores to find witnesses and worked undercover to bust theft rings.

Still, he said his work during the past 15 years should never be confused with TV shows such as "Magnum, P.I."

"Nothing I do is ever resolved in an hour," he joked.

Mr. Dietz, 42, is sole owner of Dietz Associates Inc. in San Jose, one of the oldest investigation firms in the valley.

He offers a wide range of services, including background checks, executive protection and undercover investigations to see if employees are stealing.

The bulk of his clients are attorneys and insurance and technology companies.
It's no secret that business is booming.

Last year, Dietz Associates reported revenues of more than $1 million, making it one of the largest private investigation firms in the United States, according to the National Association of Investigative Specialists.

The Austin, Texas-based industry trade group reports that only 1 percent of private investigators in the country produce revenues of $1 million or more.

Mr. Dietz, a former reserve police officer for the cities of Atherton and Santa Clara, attributed his success to gumshoe tact and serendipity.

And "persistence and a little bit of luck" haven't hurt, he said.

Mr. Dietz needed both a few months ago to track down a witness in a corporate theft case who was hiding out in Central America. He found the man after searching for him by helicopter.
"You never want to come back from a trip like that unsuccessful," said Mr. Dietz. Otherwise, the client might think he or she has just paid for a free vacation.

Mr. Dietz's firm handles hundreds of investigations a year. Some take weeks, months, even a year to complete.

Most of his business comes from referrals.

Dietz Associates charges $50 an hour for its investigative services, and does little advertising.
It has 35 employees.

A few months ago, a local technology company hired Mr. Dietz to stop employees from producing and cashing counterfeit payroll checks.

He sent an investigator undercover as an employee to track the suspects.

The PI infiltrated the ring in a matter of hours. "It usually doesn't happen that fast," said Mr. Dietz.

Many companies turn to private investigators when they want swift but discreet action, said Ralph Thomas, president of the National Association of Investigative Specialists. Local police are often too busy to investigate thefts of less than $100,000.

"Most cops are too backed up with other cases," he said.

Investigators say technology companies have become frequent clients because of an increase in thefts of chips and disk drives.

Locally, Sun Microsystems Inc. in Palo Alto, Quantum Corp. in Milpitas and Apple Computer Inc. in Cupertino have all used private investigators.

Sun corporate security director John O'Loughlin said he hires private detectives for workers' compensation fraud and theft cases.

In 1994, Sun hired an investigator who tracked down $200,000 worth of stolen computers from a company sales office in England.

"It just makes sense to use them in situations where we don't have the same resources," said Mr. O'Loughlin.

Lawyers are also good customers.

San Jose real estate attorney Ronald Rossi said he hires PIs to investigate properties, as well as buyers and sellers.

In one case, Mr. Rossi represented the buyer of a 300-unit apartment complex who sued the seller for falsely inflating the value of the property.

Mr. Rossi won the case after an investigator found that more than 300 crimes had taken place at the complex in three years, diminishing its value.

"There are always issues that come up where a private investigator can find out something that you might not be able to find out yourself," said Mr. Rossi.

Analysts said most detectives tend to be former cops or attorneys.

The business is certainly on a growth path.

Five years ago, 4,100 investigators held state licenses. Today, nearly 8,200 possess them.

Sharon Hilke, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Association of Licensed Investigators, said the rapid rise of insurance fraud in the late 1980s and early 1990s accounts for most of the increase.

Still, investigators say business hardly compares to the glamorous images seen on TV and the big screen.

The work is tough and tedious, involving long hours of waiting.

"It's very stressful," said Kevin Fairchild, owner of Cyte-M Investigations, a Santa Clara firm specializing in technology theft cases.

A former Santa Clara police officer, Mr. Fairchild loves chasing crooks but said he often loses sleep during long investigations.

"Sometimes I'll get up in the middle of the night and paste the facts of a case on the wall if it's driving me crazy," he said.

Mr. Dietz opened his business after freelancing for another investigator.
Business was so good, he never needed financing.

In the early days, Mr. Dietz tracked down bail jumpers for extra cash, picking up $4,000 for each suspect he caught.

But he stopped the practice six years ago because of the high insurance costs.

During the 1980s, a suspect attacked Mr. Dietz with a baseball bat.

Fortunately, he was wearing a ceramic chest protector.

"The guy was on drugs," he said.

Mr. Dietz didn't consider becoming a private investigator until he was in his mid-20s.

A former international champion kickboxer, Mr. Dietz wanted to become a writer but lost interest in his studies while in college.

He said one of the reasons he loves his work is that it allows him to see what truly motivates people.

"Usually, it's either money, power or sex," he said.