On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. But his dream, which now seemed so close to being a reality, was about to become a nightmare. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. 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." He and his brothers had a plan, he says. George Bumb Sr., an avid card player, held a regular weekly family poker game at his home. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." Toward the end of the call, things got heated. "It made you tough, made you get a thick skin." "I'm a big boy." He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. Most of George Bumb Sr.'s five dozen grandchildren have grown up in the 95127 ZIP code and have attended the family-run K-12 Catholic school, St. Thomas More, located on Flea Market grounds since 1978. 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. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. But he didn't cash out. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. 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. "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. 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. Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. 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. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. You know the school we went to?" In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. 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 district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. 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. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. Christopher Gardner (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. "I'm a big boy." Christopher Gardner Tim and George Jr. would appeal and reapply, the hope being that the club would open as soon as possible. OK--we didn't get out--OK? 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." 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. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. "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. 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. "It made you tough, made you get a thick skin." EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." 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. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. 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. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. 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. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. The Bumb family gained much of its wealth from the San Jose Flea Market, which is why Braunstein says he thought the contribution wouldn't run afoul of FPPC standards. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." 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. He asked longtime family attorney Ron Werner if his brothers could write a recommendation letter for him, something state officials had told him he would need to be considered eligible for a gaming license. Or at least he thought he didn't. OK--we didn't get out--OK? Jeff Bumb later explained to the press that they didn't know partnerships were required to file such reports, and they paid the state a $1,250 fine. Of the four brothers, Tim and George had faced the least resistance from state gaming officials. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. 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. Jeff's grandfather, Frank Bumb, had met his wife, Mary, at a card parlor in San Francisco where they worked. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. 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." But there was no gambling done that night. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) Tim now runs Bay 101, which he says is no easy task. 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." Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" 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. He also runs day-to-day operations at the family-owned Flea Market. Now that their gaming license had been denied, a decision needed to be made--quickly. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. And for nearly a month, they did. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. There were flowers everywhere. In fact, on the day he was arrested, records show that Venzon pawned a 14-karat-gold diamond cluster ring and a ladies' gold tennis bracelet for a total of $298 at American Precious Metals, a jewelry store at the Flea Market run by Joseph Bumb. "He worked for me." When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. 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." But his dream, which now seemed so close to being a reality, was about to become a nightmare. And Brian, the handsome and gregarious youngest brother, was in charge of day-to-day operations at the Flea Market. "The thing they probably value most is their privacy," Bryant explains. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. "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. 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. 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. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." "He worked for me." OK--we didn't get out--OK? And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. But his dream, which now seemed so close to being a reality, was about to become a nightmare. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. But there was no gambling done that night. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Tim now runs Bay 101, which he says is no easy task. 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. 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. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. 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. The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. Near the end Venzon writes, "They want to bring up the 'murder-for-hire' investigation again. 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. Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. 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. Christopher Gardner 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. And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. 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. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. Or at least he thought he didn't. In fact, on the day he was arrested, records show that Venzon pawned a 14-karat-gold diamond cluster ring and a ladies' gold tennis bracelet for a total of $298 at American Precious Metals, a jewelry store at the Flea Market run by Joseph Bumb. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. 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. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. A nurse was present to monitor his condition. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. Initially, police filed felony charges against Matthew Bumb for having oral sex with a minor and penetrating her with his fingers. 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. And for nearly a month, they did. 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. 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. You think this didn't break my heart?" ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. "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." Christopher Gardner Snow White or Cinderella? "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. The district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. 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. 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. 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." Christopher Gardner When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. Christopher Gardner "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. "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." But there was no gambling done that night. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. He can't ignore it. During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. Werner said no. But there was no gambling done that night. About 20 percent of the 130 students there are Bumb relatives.) AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. I'm on the hook for $15 million. 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. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. He babysat the construction site every day for almost five months. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. 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. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. 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. "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." 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. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. 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. The district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. EIGHT MONTHS AFTER its approval by the City Council, the peach-colored Bay 101 held its "grand opening." Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. At the time, San Jose, like cities throughout the state, was strapped for cash, looking at an $11 million budget shortfall. And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." 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. Christopher Gardner The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. 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. 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. Over the years, he had developed working relationships with the city's politicians and bureaucrats. And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. 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. You know the school we went to?" 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. 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." His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. But Jeff was confident. 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. During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. 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." The San Jose Flea Market, located in Berryessa district of San Jose, California, was founded by George Bumb Sr. in March 1960. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. 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. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. 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. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. 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 started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. 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. 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.