Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. 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. "They didn't teach anything about this. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. "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. They recorded the conversation. 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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" 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. "I'm a big boy." It wasn't the money, either. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. 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. 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. Or at least he thought he didn't. Three years ago, the Mercury News listed the Bumb family in the Top 10 of the valley's most generous political contributors. 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. 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. Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. 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." "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." The card club has done more than bring unwanted public scrutiny to this insular group. And then there's the stuff that never made it into headlines, like the alleged murder-for-hire plot out at the Flea Market. Werner said no. "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. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. 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. 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. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. 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." You know the school we went to?" And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. And Brian, the handsome and gregarious youngest brother, was in charge of day-to-day operations at the Flea Market. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" The air conditioning is on, but beads of sweat surface on Bumb's forehead, between a pair of fierce-looking blue eyes and a receding blonde hairline. 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. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. "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. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. Or at least he thought he didn't. Christopher Gardner Christopher Gardner 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. 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. "They didn't teach anything about this. Tim now runs Bay 101, which he says is no easy task. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. 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. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. Christopher Gardner 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." 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 entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. The Bumbs' reputation as an unconventional, insular, wealthy, large brood keeps tongues in political circles flapping. George Bumb Jr., the quiet one with a flair for things mechanical, was already at the controls of Air One Helicopter. "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." But Jeff was confident. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. "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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. But he didn't cash out. Snow White or Cinderella? 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. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. It's like we had no life except for the family." 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. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. 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. "I'm a big boy." FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. In response to Jeff's legal attacks, George Bumb Sr. and Bumb & Associates filed two separate suits of their own to collect nearly $1 million in loans and interest they claimed Jeff never paid. "They didn't teach anything about this. "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. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. "They didn't teach anything about this. Well, guess what? Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. Christopher Gardner Now that their gaming license had been denied, a decision needed to be made--quickly. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. "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." 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. "The thing they probably value most is their privacy," Bryant explains. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. In response to Jeff's legal attacks, George Bumb Sr. and Bumb & Associates filed two separate suits of their own to collect nearly $1 million in loans and interest they claimed Jeff never paid. Councilmembers approved the Berryessa BART Urban Village project, a plan to rezone a 61.5-acre portion of the flea market site to include up to . Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. "They didn't teach anything about this. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." 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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. Christopher Gardner When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. 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. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. 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." ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. 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. "It's making a whole lot of money," Bumb says of the club which city financial forecasters have predicted will gross $34.6 million this year, $11.5 million more than its cross-town rival, Garden City. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. 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. 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. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. 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. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. 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. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. He also runs day-to-day operations at the family-owned Flea Market. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." In a statement to police, Jeff's daughter recounted how the first incident had happened the year before on the Fourth of July at a family beach house near Santa Cruz when the older boy allegedly started fondling her while she was asleep on the living room couch. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." 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 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. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. Before the end of the month, the Flea Market laid off Jeff's daughters Anne and Rebecca. Place of living: Nadia lives in Los Angeles, where she was born, together with her family. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. "I'm a big boy." 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. 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. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. And Jeff himself had been playing poker since he was 12. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. Jeff Bumb remembers that when he was going to school at Bellarmine in the '60s, the other kids would call him things like "Bumbsy" or "Bumbo." He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. The card club has done more than bring unwanted public scrutiny to this insular group. "What am I going to say to the vice president?" The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. But there was no gambling done that night. It's like we had no life except for the family." OK--we didn't get out--OK? And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. "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." 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. Snow White or Cinderella? When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. And Brian, the handsome and gregarious youngest brother, was in charge of day-to-day operations at the Flea Market. "I'm a big boy." Tim and George Jr. would appeal and reapply, the hope being that the club would open as soon as possible. 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. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." OK--we didn't get out--OK? 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. But there was no gambling done that night. "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." Email: [email protected] Contact: Age: 66; Gender: Female; Net Worth: . Now that their gaming license had been denied, a decision needed to be made--quickly. 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. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. They recorded the conversation. 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. 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. Or at least he thought he didn't. 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. 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. 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 runs day-to-day operations at the family-owned Flea Market. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." In a statement to police, Jeff's daughter recounted how the first incident had happened the year before on the Fourth of July at a family beach house near Santa Cruz when the older boy allegedly started fondling her while she was asleep on the living room couch. Snow White or Cinderella? AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. 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. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. In a statement to police, Jeff's daughter recounted how the first incident had happened the year before on the Fourth of July at a family beach house near Santa Cruz when the older boy allegedly started fondling her while she was asleep on the living room couch. AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. OK--we didn't get out--OK? During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. It wasn't the idea of gambling. 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. 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. 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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. 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. 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. 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. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. "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. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. 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. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. 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. "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."
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