Undercover Inc.      Exerpted from the November 1990 edition of                                              Alaska Airlines Magazine

"Bill Klausman* does not look like a spy as he examines financial statements spread over a desk in the office of a truck dealership.  Though his false ID says he's their bank auditor, he is actually snooping around on the behalf of his client, an Egyptian trading company that is buying the dealership...and has a hunch that the seller might be cooking the books.

"If a business suspects or knows that vital information has been stolen, it may bring the problem to someone like Klausman*.  Along with their special skills, outsiders like him provide a cushion of deniability.  Often, companies want to be able to walk away from the outsider in case something unforeseen goes wrong, thus making it impossible to prove that such a relationship existed.

"Spooks, they're called, and nobody knows how many haunt the business world, but sources agree that during the last decade, corporate espionage has grown tremendously.  Corporate spies steal not only secret formulas, but also marketing plans, cost data, and customer lists.

"Klausman* is a specialist in covert corporate counter-espionage.  His targets consist only of those who have harmed, or are about to harm, his clients.  Operating alone, he worms his way inside the target organization, gets the proof, and then exits before the target realizes what has happened."

* At the time this article was written and published, one of Klausman's pseudonyms was inserted to protect his identity. Since he has now broken cover to tell his amazing stories, he has agreed to use his real name.

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