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. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. he asked. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. One wag refers to them as "the Beverly Hillbillies of San Jose." When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) 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. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. It's like we had no life except for the family." And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. 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. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. Christopher Gardner 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. 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. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. The district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. But Jeff says that privately he and his brothers had an oral agreement--which Tim Bumb now corroborates--that would one day let him repurchase his shares and become a partner in Bay 101 again. The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. There were flowers everywhere. Well, guess what? 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. ON AUG. 11, 1995, Jeff sat in his Flea Market office scribbling on a piece of paper, plotting his grand return to his peach palace. "They didn't teach anything about this. 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 I told you that I loved you and you are like a father to me. Privacy hasn't been so easy to come by for the Bumbs in the '90s, since they got involved in Bay 101. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" For all his quirks and controlling behavior, the old man is regarded as a benefactor by most family members and some Flea Market employees who know their boss to be capable of great generosity. At the time, San Jose, like cities throughout the state, was strapped for cash, looking at an $11 million budget shortfall. And for nearly a month, they did. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. Near the end Venzon writes, "They want to bring up the 'murder-for-hire' investigation again. The district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. Christopher Gardner The card club has done more than bring unwanted public scrutiny to this insular group. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. 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. 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. And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." The ensuing delay forced Jeff Bumb to lay off 600 workers he had hired. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. 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. "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. Originally he was scheduled for questioning on March 10, 1997, but the old man's lawyers explained that their client was extremely ill, suffering from "severe life-threatening conditions," practically on his death bed. EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. "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. Initially, police filed felony charges against Matthew Bumb for having oral sex with a minor and penetrating her with his fingers. "He worked for me." 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. 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. 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. Christopher Gardner The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Of the four brothers, Tim and George had faced the least resistance from state gaming officials. And then there's the stuff that never made it into headlines, like the alleged murder-for-hire plot out at the Flea Market. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. 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. 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. 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. Seven of George Bumb Sr.'s eight grown children reside in the eastside foothills within a mile or two of their father, often on the same block. 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. At the time, San Jose, like cities throughout the state, was strapped for cash, looking at an $11 million budget shortfall. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. As a compromise of sorts, he was debating whether he should apply for a license as a gaming-club manager instead of as an owner. Well, guess what? 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. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. "They didn't teach anything about this. "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." You think this didn't break my heart?" Eight months later, the frame of the weapon was found in a Salinas pond near Venzon's home with the barrel and slide missing. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. A nurse was present to monitor his condition. 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. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. OK--we didn't get out--OK? "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." 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. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. One of George Bumb Sr.'s granddaughters explained to police that her family was very old-fashioned: "The woman gets the short end of the deal; she is a whore. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. ON AUG. 11, 1995, Jeff sat in his Flea Market office scribbling on a piece of paper, plotting his grand return to his peach palace. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. 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. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. In fact, he hasn't set foot in the place since October 1995, the year he stopped talking to his father and three brothers. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." 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. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. ON AUG. 11, 1995, Jeff sat in his Flea Market office scribbling on a piece of paper, plotting his grand return to his peach palace. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. "He worked for me." The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. Christopher Gardner 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. 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. It's like we had no life except for the family." When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. "It's a very strong family. Of the four brothers, Tim and George had faced the least resistance from state gaming officials. Some improprieties did turn up: Bumb & Associates, a partnership including the four brothers and their father, had failed to file required reports disclosing more than $100,000 in political contributions made between 1989 and 1992. It wasn't the money, either. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) When he was jailed, the desperate cop wrote a 15-page handwritten letter in pencil to George Bumb in May 1997 asking the Flea Market owner to bail him out. "He took care of it." 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. Christopher Gardner He and his brothers had a plan, he says. They recorded the conversation. Bryant, who acts as emissary for the family and its patriarch, thinks the Bumbs are a misunderstood bunch. One of George Bumb Sr.'s granddaughters explained to police that her family was very old-fashioned: "The woman gets the short end of the deal; she is a whore. Christopher Gardner 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." Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. 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." But Jeff Bumb would greatly prefer not to talk about this. In the last five years, the Bumb family and its enterprises have been investigated for illegal political campaign contributions, an alleged profit-skimming racket out at the Berryessa Flea Market and even a murder-for-hire scheme involving Johnny Venzon, a former cop, convicted thief and gambling addict. "They didn't teach anything about this. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. "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." When he was jailed, the desperate cop wrote a 15-page handwritten letter in pencil to George Bumb in May 1997 asking the Flea Market owner to bail him out. In her 10 years as the Flea Market's community relations specialist, Bryant has come to adore the lack of pretension among this clan of millionaires who have their offices in a mobile home where none of the furniture seems to match. Deputy chief Tom Wheatley says that police wondered if Venzon, or someone, destroyed the barrel to prevent a ballistics test from tracing a fired bullet to the gun. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. 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. One month later, the state attorney general's office made a devastating announcement: Authorities had come across issues of "such magnitude" and "concern" that they would need at least another month to decide if gambling should be allowed at Bay 101. "It made you tough, made you get a thick skin." And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. Originally he was scheduled for questioning on March 10, 1997, but the old man's lawyers explained that their client was extremely ill, suffering from "severe life-threatening conditions," practically on his death bed. "It's a very strong family. But Jeff and his family started hearing that instead of showing concern and support for his daughter, George Bumb Sr. and others in the family were blaming his freshman daughter for the incident and not her adult-age cousin. 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. He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. Or at least he thought he didn't. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. When he was jailed, the desperate cop wrote a 15-page handwritten letter in pencil to George Bumb in May 1997 asking the Flea Market owner to bail him out. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. 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. When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. "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." 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. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. "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. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. 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. Christopher Gardner And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. 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. "What am I going to say to the vice president?" Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. George Bumb Jr., the quiet one with a flair for things mechanical, was already at the controls of Air One Helicopter. Christopher Gardner They recorded the conversation. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ] 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. "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. "He worked for me." 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. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER its approval by the City Council, the peach-colored Bay 101 held its "grand opening." The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. I'm on the hook for $15 million. Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke.