He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. Jeff Bumb says he believes that state and local investigators at the time of Bay 101's limbo were investigating a rumor that Jeff had tried to get someone killed, a charge Jeff denies. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. "The thing they probably value most is their privacy," Bryant explains. "We made it very clear to Jeff and everybody else concerned," Tim says, "that I'm not going to stick my neck on the line here. Though authorities were never able to prove a paid snuff plot, Jeff Bumb believes the allegations were a factor contributing to authorities' mistrust of him. AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. Tim now runs Bay 101, which he says is no easy task. But Jeff was confident. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. Over the past year alone, Bumb & Associates and Bay 101 have given $56,000 to now-Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the man in charge of card-room regulation. Tim and George Jr. worried that pressuring state and city officials to deal Jeff back in at Bay 101 would backfire and authorities would close down the card room. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. Bumb family attorney Ron Werner suggested that Jeff and his family had a hidden motive for waiting nearly a month to report the incident to police. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. A nurse was present to monitor his condition. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. George Bumb Jr., the quiet one with a flair for things mechanical, was already at the controls of Air One Helicopter. And then there's the stuff that never made it into headlines, like the alleged murder-for-hire plot out at the Flea Market. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. It pitted Bumb against Bumb. A FEW DAYS AFTER returning from his son's Oct. 13, 1995, military graduation in San Diego, Jeff and his wife, Elizabeth, got some appalling news: Their 14-year-old daughter had been involved in a sexual relationship with an older male cousin. A FEW DAYS AFTER returning from his son's Oct. 13, 1995, military graduation in San Diego, Jeff and his wife, Elizabeth, got some appalling news: Their 14-year-old daughter had been involved in a sexual relationship with an older male cousin. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. Behind the scenes, the Bumbs suspected their potential gambling competitors and a disgruntled former Flea Market employee of giving investigators unsubstantiated material to use against them. Before the end of the month, the Flea Market laid off Jeff's daughters Anne and Rebecca. "I'm a big boy." Tim and George Jr. worried that pressuring state and city officials to deal Jeff back in at Bay 101 would backfire and authorities would close down the card room. According to Werner, molestation of his daughter became part of a laundry list of damning things Jeff threatened to disclose if his buy-out demands weren't met. When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. One wag refers to them as "the Beverly Hillbillies of San Jose." And Brian, the handsome and gregarious youngest brother, was in charge of day-to-day operations at the Flea Market. Near the end Venzon writes, "They want to bring up the 'murder-for-hire' investigation again. And for nearly a month, they did. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" They recorded the conversation. Just so everyone got the point, Jeff Bumb announced to the press that he and Brian were divesting from Bay 101, and records show he eventually sold his shares for $1.4 million. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. Snow White or Cinderella? The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. Christopher Gardner Jeff Bumb says he believes that state and local investigators at the time of Bay 101's limbo were investigating a rumor that Jeff had tried to get someone killed, a charge Jeff denies. Life of Brian: Initially denied a gaming license by the state, Brian Bumb has since received a provisional license and become a partner in Bay 101 with his brothers, Tim and George. One wag refers to them as "the Beverly Hillbillies of San Jose." In fact, he hasn't set foot in the place since October 1995, the year he stopped talking to his father and three brothers. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. Still Standing: Jeff Bumb, Bay 101's ostracized founder, boasts that despite various local, state and federal investigations over the years he has emerged squeaky clean. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. He was born on October 19, 1948 in Aberdeen, Washington but was raise in San Jose and Santa Cruz, California. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." These superaffluent folks made up 1.2% of the world's high-net-worth population comprising anyone with at least $1 million but they hold 34% of that group's wealth, amounting to $35.5 . According to Werner, molestation of his daughter became part of a laundry list of damning things Jeff threatened to disclose if his buy-out demands weren't met. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. It wasn't the money, either. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." The court saga evolved into a battle of wills between a father--a man who wouldn't even let the Vatican tell him what to do--and his oldest son, determined to break free from the old man's grasp. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. Initially, police filed felony charges against Matthew Bumb for having oral sex with a minor and penetrating her with his fingers. Privacy hasn't been so easy to come by for the Bumbs in the '90s, since they got involved in Bay 101. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. First, Jeff tried to have the Bumb & Associates partnership dissolved after accusing his family of trying to force him out without paying him a fair price. Well, guess what? And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." "He took care of it." "It's a very strong family. "He worked for me." Don't Shoot: George Bumb Sr., the publicity-shy patriarch of the Bumb family and creator of the Flea Market, in a rare photo which appeared in California Today magazine in 1980. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. If all this weren't enough, a sexual relationship between his 14-year-old daughter and a 19-year-old Bumb cousin was reported to police, slicing the family's cherished privacy wide open for the world to see. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. Tim and George, under pressure from then Police Chief Lou Cobarruviaz, had already signed an agreement a year earlier that prohibited Brian, Jeff and their father from having anything to do with the card room. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER its approval by the City Council, the peach-colored Bay 101 held its "grand opening." According to Werner, molestation of his daughter became part of a laundry list of damning things Jeff threatened to disclose if his buy-out demands weren't met. The investigation was given a shot in the arm after the arrest of Johnny Venzon in 1997, a cop who made headlines for burglarizing homes while on duty to pay for his mounting gambling debts. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. The day before, Monday at noon, half of the club's tables were full of gamblers playing seven card stud, Omaha and Texas Hold 'Em. Now that their gaming license had been denied, a decision needed to be made--quickly. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. Bumb family attorney Ron Werner suggested that Jeff and his family had a hidden motive for waiting nearly a month to report the incident to police. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. Unlike other partners, neither Jeff nor Brian had buyback provisions in their written agreements, an intentional omission meant to appease state gaming officials who wanted them out of the picture. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER its approval by the City Council, the peach-colored Bay 101 held its "grand opening." Christopher Gardner ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. "The thing they probably value most is their privacy," Bryant explains. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Christopher Gardner Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. THINGS WERE certainly simpler back in the old days, before Bay 101, when the Bumbs were known for the Berryessa Flea Market, the family-owned business started in 1960 by 75-year-old family patriarch George Bumb Sr. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. At one point in the investigation, sheriff's detectives had Jeff's daughter call Matthew while he was working at the Flea Market to confirm the sexual activities. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. Other allegations were more dubious: Investigators chased after a tip that the Bumbs were skimming cash from the Flea Market parking lot, an accusation that was never proven. Christopher Gardner Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. Jeff himself was hit with a federal grand jury investigation over financial transactions in connection with a multimillion-dollar residential development near Silver Creek Road. It wasn't the money, either. About 20 percent of the 130 students there are Bumb relatives.) "I don't need their help," he barked at Werner. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." A nurse was present to monitor his condition. he asked. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. It pitted Bumb against Bumb. Tim Bumb says writing a letter on Jeff's behalf would have violated the agreement with the police chief and put the club in jeopardy. Over the past year alone, Bumb & Associates and Bay 101 have given $56,000 to now-Attorney General Bill Lockyer, the man in charge of card-room regulation. Even though all the lights were out, she told police that she knew it was Matthew "because the moonlight shined into the room through the large windows that faced the ocean." And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. It's like we had no life except for the family." It's very tightknit," says Bryant, adding that the senior Bumb doesn't give interviews--ever. OK--we didn't get out--OK? Or at least he thought he didn't. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. "And when I visited you at your home I told you that other than God you are the only person I've gotten down on my knees for," Venzon says on page 7. `He drives by every day on his way to his Maverick Consulting development business in Mountain View, but he never gets off the Brokaw/First Street exit to pay a visit. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. According to Werner, molestation of his daughter became part of a laundry list of damning things Jeff threatened to disclose if his buy-out demands weren't met. Earlier this year, a month before Venzon was sentenced to 14 years in prison, district attorney investigator Michael Schembri closed out the Venzon case, noting in a court filing, "No new information has been uncovered relating to the murder for hire case [at the Flea Market] which our department investigated several years ago." He and his brothers had a plan, he says. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. He can't ignore it. Behind the scenes, the Bumbs suspected their potential gambling competitors and a disgruntled former Flea Market employee of giving investigators unsubstantiated material to use against them. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. Christopher Gardner Life of Brian: Initially denied a gaming license by the state, Brian Bumb has since received a provisional license and become a partner in Bay 101 with his brothers, Tim and George. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. he asked. It did the unthinkable: And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. Police reports would suggest she had, "for about a year," been giving "blow jobs" to 19-year-old Matthew Bumb, son of George Bumb Jr. Bryant, who acts as emissary for the family and its patriarch, thinks the Bumbs are a misunderstood bunch. George Bumb Sr.'s loan-repayment demands came in July 1996, just as his oldest son and his wife were about to move to Los Gatos and break away from the family and its eastside enclave. Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. When family patriarch and Flea Market mastermind George Bumb Sr. was invited to attend a party with President Clinton in San Francisco a couple of years ago, he refused to go and sent his community relations specialist, Betsy Bryant, instead. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. Three years ago, the Mercury News listed the Bumb family in the Top 10 of the valley's most generous political contributors. First, Jeff tried to have the Bumb & Associates partnership dissolved after accusing his family of trying to force him out without paying him a fair price. Realizing that, Jeff offered to pay higher card-room taxes (next year the city expects to collect $4.5 million from Bay 101) and pick up the tab for security. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. Even though all the lights were out, she told police that she knew it was Matthew "because the moonlight shined into the room through the large windows that faced the ocean." The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. It pitted Bumb against Bumb. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. Before the end of the month, the Flea Market laid off Jeff's daughters Anne and Rebecca. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." Police reports would suggest she had, "for about a year," been giving "blow jobs" to 19-year-old Matthew Bumb, son of George Bumb Jr. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. "My issue with [George Bumb Sr.]," Jeff Bumb complains about his father, "was his control of where you lived, what kind of house you bought, where your children went to school, who your friends are, whether your children went to college, who they would marry, what kind of wedding they would have." Don't Shoot: George Bumb Sr., the publicity-shy patriarch of the Bumb family and creator of the Flea Market, in a rare photo which appeared in California Today magazine in 1980. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER its approval by the City Council, the peach-colored Bay 101 held its "grand opening." His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Eight days after the molestation incident was reported to police--and one day after Jeff Bumb formally refused his father's $6.9 million buyout offer--George Bumb Sr. sent Jeff a curt typewritten memo informing Jeff that he was terminated effective immediately and had to clean out his desk before 5pm. In February 1994, nearly one year after the San Jose City Council gave Bay 101 its blessing, the state denied the Bumbs and their partners' gaming license application. But there was no gambling done that night. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. Still Standing: Jeff Bumb, Bay 101's ostracized founder, boasts that despite various local, state and federal investigations over the years he has emerged squeaky clean. You think this didn't break my heart?" He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. "He worked for me." "He worked for me." "And I told you that I loved you and you are like a father to me. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. That promised to be a hard sell to the San Jose City Council, which would have to authorize both the new site and the expansion. "My issue with [George Bumb Sr.]," Jeff Bumb complains about his father, "was his control of where you lived, what kind of house you bought, where your children went to school, who your friends are, whether your children went to college, who they would marry, what kind of wedding they would have." It's like we had no life except for the family." One wag refers to them as "the Beverly Hillbillies of San Jose." Campaign records show that Bumb & Associates and Bay 101 have made at least $587,000 in campaign donations since 1994 to local and state politicians and ballot measures. "I liked my name," he maintains. When the Vatican eliminated Latin from the Catholic mass in the '60s, George Bumb Sr. responded by building his own chapel, named for the rebellious St. Athanasius, at the base of Mt. In 1970, Patrick teamed up with several musicians from around San Jose who had a band . During the Venzon investigation, San Jose police dug up an old file from November 1990 in which Venzon, a sheriff's deputy, had reported his department-issued Smith & Wesson 9 mm automatic stolen. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. Their pun-afflicted surname adds to the hillbilly mystique. Initially, police filed felony charges against Matthew Bumb for having oral sex with a minor and penetrating her with his fingers. Tim and George Jr. worried that pressuring state and city officials to deal Jeff back in at Bay 101 would backfire and authorities would close down the card room. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. That promised to be a hard sell to the San Jose City Council, which would have to authorize both the new site and the expansion. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. "They didn't teach anything about this. "I don't need their help," he barked at Werner. As legend has it, the Bumbs still send a monthly check to the widow of a former head of security who died of a brain tumor 20 years ago. FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. He wanted to relocate and expand Sutter's Place in Alviso from a five-table card room to a 40-table one, matching the size of Northern California's largest card room, Garden City in San Jose. OK--we didn't get out--OK? Jeff's grandfather, Frank Bumb, had met his wife, Mary, at a card parlor in San Francisco where they worked. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. "We made it very clear to Jeff and everybody else concerned," Tim says, "that I'm not going to stick my neck on the line here. If all this weren't enough, a sexual relationship between his 14-year-old daughter and a 19-year-old Bumb cousin was reported to police, slicing the family's cherished privacy wide open for the world to see. It's very tightknit," says Bryant, adding that the senior Bumb doesn't give interviews--ever. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. "My issue with [George Bumb Sr.]," Jeff Bumb complains about his father, "was his control of where you lived, what kind of house you bought, where your children went to school, who your friends are, whether your children went to college, who they would marry, what kind of wedding they would have." When the Vatican eliminated Latin from the Catholic mass in the '60s, George Bumb Sr. responded by building his own chapel, named for the rebellious St. Athanasius, at the base of Mt. You know the school we went to?" There were flowers everywhere. And then police remembered the old rumors about a murder plot at the Flea Market, where Venzon had worked as a security guard for more than 15 years. First, Jeff tried to have the Bumb & Associates partnership dissolved after accusing his family of trying to force him out without paying him a fair price. Christopher Gardner Toward the end of the call, things got heated. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. They recorded the conversation. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) First, Jeff tried to have the Bumb & Associates partnership dissolved after accusing his family of trying to force him out without paying him a fair price. Before the end of the month, the Flea Market laid off Jeff's daughters Anne and Rebecca. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. I'm on the hook for $15 million. OK--we didn't get out--OK? Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. Christopher Gardner Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. During the Venzon investigation, San Jose police dug up an old file from November 1990 in which Venzon, a sheriff's deputy, had reported his department-issued Smith & Wesson 9 mm automatic stolen. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. "I mean," Jeff later said at a deposition, "it was a time of hurt and heartache for us--and not my father, not my mother, not my brother George, not my brother Tim, not Brian could care less." Well, guess what? Bryant, who acts as emissary for the family and its patriarch, thinks the Bumbs are a misunderstood bunch. Tim and George, under pressure from then Police Chief Lou Cobarruviaz, had already signed an agreement a year earlier that prohibited Brian, Jeff and their father from having anything to do with the card room. You know the school we went to?" On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Eight months later, the frame of the weapon was found in a Salinas pond near Venzon's home with the barrel and slide missing. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. Just so everyone got the point, Jeff Bumb announced to the press that he and Brian were divesting from Bay 101, and records show he eventually sold his shares for $1.4 million. Don't Shoot: George Bumb Sr., the publicity-shy patriarch of the Bumb family and creator of the Flea Market, in a rare photo which appeared in California Today magazine in 1980. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. Tim and George Jr. worried that pressuring state and city officials to deal Jeff back in at Bay 101 would backfire and authorities would close down the card room. Christopher Gardner You know the school we went to?" Jeff was also getting word from his nieces and nephews that his father said at a family poker game: "If it was up to him, all the grandchildren would marry each other." When family patriarch and Flea Market mastermind George Bumb Sr. was invited to attend a party with President Clinton in San Francisco a couple of years ago, he refused to go and sent his community relations specialist, Betsy Bryant, instead. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. Eight days after the molestation incident was reported to police--and one day after Jeff Bumb formally refused his father's $6.9 million buyout offer--George Bumb Sr. sent Jeff a curt typewritten memo informing Jeff that he was terminated effective immediately and had to clean out his desk before 5pm.