The Freixas family has deep ties in Miami's Cuban exile community. Before his death last year, José Freixas was a beloved businessman who left Havana two years into Fidel Castro's regime and earned his wealth as an import-exporter between Spain and the United States.

Billy, or Guillermo, Freixas was active in the local political scene. He was appointed to the Miami Zoning Board two decades ago, setting the groundwork for contacts that would later lead to campaign work and fundraising for former County Commissioner Jorge Valdes and success in getting government contracts.

Together, they urged the county to open a European marketing office - and hire them to do market research and "promote Miami's strategic location" in the aviation industry. For this, José Freixas had formed the company, Paramedia USA Inc., in 1991.

When it came to bid three years later, they were ranked second best among nine finalists for the work and had no previously documented market research or aviation industry experience. Yet they won the job on a motion by then-Commissioner Pedro Reboredo. Reboredo later traveled with the Freixases on county business in Spain and got $1,500 in campaign contributions from their companies.

Paramedia opened offices in Coral Gables and Spain. At the grand opening in Madrid of what was called the European Office of Miami International Airport, Miami-Dade and Spanish officials celebrated with a $44,763 bash, paid for by the airport.

Company members attended trade shows, traveled freely, wined and dined foreign executives and politicos and placed ads in European trade magazines. They were often joined in Spain by friends, family, Miami-Dade commissioners, business leaders and airport officials, in events billed as promotion for MIA.

The airport automatically wired Paramedia up to $23,271 a month for its basic marketing services. But it also reimbursed the company for any money spent on travel and advertisements - in all, nearly $1 million for those additional expenses alone. While reviewing Paramedia's airport work, The Herald contacted a half dozen magazines in Spain to examine the company's expense reports for advertising costs.

DISCREPANCIES

Of seven invoices provided, six do not match those sent to and approved by the airport. The one critical difference in every case: price.

Otherwise, the bills were identical - right down to the invoice numbers.

In one instance, the airport paid $3,000 - on the basis of the submitted invoice - for a full page ad in the Barcelona-based Spanish Air Cargo Transport Agents 1998. The real cost: $1,576.95, according to an invoice provided by Mencar publications, which ran the ad.

Many other invoices, some as high as $8,000, could not be obtained by The Herald.

Chris Mangos, the airport marketing director who approved the expenses, said he never verified the invoices because the prices were reasonable.

"I can't explain this, " he said of the discrepancy.

Apart from the billing issue, Paramedia had other problems. The company was caught twice violating the terms of its contract by airport auditors and later the county's inspector general. They found Freixas was overpaid thousands of dollars, received per diem and actual expenses simultaneously, and generally kept such scant records that it was impossible to determine whether the company was actually doing the work required.

FIRM ILL-PREPARED