At Bush's request, the Department of Commerce's inspector general conducted an unusual investigation in late 1987 into the American International Exhibition for Travel.

The state could not find a contract from Stephen Winn to show what he did for the money. Auditors also do not know if they found all the payments to him. Stephen Winn did not return repeated phone calls from The Herald.

The state couldn't find Bar-Gera, either. A final copy of the investigation was sent back, stamped "Returned to Sender. Forwarding Order Expired."

The Herald found a telephone number for Bar-Gera and his wife in Tel Aviv. A man who answered the phone said the Bar- Geras had not lived there for several years.

He would not reveal the couple's whereabouts, but said he would pass a message to the couple through their daughters.

"If they want to return them, they do, " the man said.

The Bar-Geras never phoned.

This account of The American International Exhibition for Travel is based on public records and interviews.

It began in 1985 when Bar-Gera and his wife Kenda incorporated the company. They used a Hollywood lawyer, Lewis Cohen.

Bar-Gera's firm's literature said he ran a cargo company in Cologne, Germany and a tourism show in Tel Aviv in 1983. Kenda Bar-Gera had operated an art gallery in Germany.

The couple had a plan. They would put on an annual international tourism trade show in Miami Beach. Exhibitors would come from around the world, hoping to sell their countries to the thousands of people and travel agents who would attend.

Bar-Gera sold the plan to the Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Bureau.

"The concept was good, " said Ron Kent, the convention bureau official who worked with them. "The organization was not professional. They needed a lot of entree to the major tourism people in the area."

Enter Sherman Winn, an elected official who also was director of the Greater Miami Hotel and Motel Association.

The first show in January 1986 was not a success. Exhibitors came from around the world, but few customers showed up.

Some exhibitors complained. Some demanded refunds.

"Of course, they lost credibility after that show. Many people were still willing to give them a chance, " Kent said.

Winn was one of them.

Winn wrote a letter on behalf of the firm and sent it to travel agents and tourism officials around the world. Winn said in the letter that the organizers had approached him two years earlier with the idea of creating an international travel exhibition.

"As a county commissioner with over 30 years of experience in the tourism industry, I found the idea daring and intriguing. It required tremendous city and county cooperation, but the benefits both to the area and the international travel industry could be great. Together we worked to fill a gap on the travel scene, " he wrote.

Winn also praised the first show. Though the show had its pitfalls, "it confirmed my confidence in the idea of an annual international travel show here in the United States. As chairman of the first host committee, I took great pride in what we had accomplished."

Helge Glawischnig, director of tourism in Austria, wrote Winn a letter back:

"There is enough incriminatory evidence to disassociate oneself from this organization, " he wrote. "Your support could be misunderstood that you would (ap)prove their actions. We all have expected to get a written apology and refund for being misrepresented."