It pitted Bumb against Bumb. 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. Three years ago, the Mercury News listed the Bumb family in the Top 10 of the valley's most generous political contributors. "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." He chose the building's peachy-pink paint job, he says, because he wanted "a pleasant, welcoming earth tone." "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." 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. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. Christopher Gardner "He worked for me." 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. 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. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. Ultimately, the charges against the older Bumb were reduced to a misdemeanor. Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. He also runs day-to-day operations at the family-owned Flea Market. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. 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 Bumb, the school's director, says it was put there to save on rent. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. 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. You think this didn't break my heart?" 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. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. 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 And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." 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. Christopher Gardner The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. 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. And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." I'm on the hook for $15 million. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. 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." Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. Werner said no. He chose the building's peachy-pink paint job, he says, because he wanted "a pleasant, welcoming earth tone." According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. Well, guess what? 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. 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. Snow White or Cinderella? 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." 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. FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. And for nearly a month, they did. 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. 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. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. 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. 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. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. And for nearly a month, they did. "He worked for me." 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 demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." 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 now runs Bay 101, which he says is no easy task. 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. 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 teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. 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 two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. 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. Near the end Venzon writes, "They want to bring up the 'murder-for-hire' investigation again. George Bumb Sr., an avid card player, held a regular weekly family poker game at his home. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" 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. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. 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. 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. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. 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. "And I told you that I loved you and you are like a father to me. "He took care of it." Eight months later, the frame of the weapon was found in a Salinas pond near Venzon's home with the barrel and slide missing. 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. 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 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. 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." 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. They recorded the conversation. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) "Jeff is a wheeler and dealer," explained his Uncle John, the Flea Market's executive vice president and owner of the Skeeball Arcade. The only reason we are driving around in his Lexus today is because he knows I have read the bizarre and bitter contents of a 2-foot-high stack of documents down at the Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse. 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. 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. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. 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. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) 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. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. And there were gamblers everywhere who had come looking for some action. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. 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. "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." "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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. 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. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. Or at least he thought he didn't. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. 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. 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. Of the four brothers, Tim and George had faced the least resistance from state gaming officials. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. You know the school we went to?" The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. He babysat the construction site every day for almost five months. "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." Near the end Venzon writes, "They want to bring up the 'murder-for-hire' investigation again. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. 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. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Jeff didn't mind, though. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. He was born on October 19, 1948 in Aberdeen, Washington but was raise in San Jose and Santa Cruz, California. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. But he didn't cash out. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. 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. 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 district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. 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. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. 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. 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. And Jeff himself had been playing poker since he was 12. The elder Bumb may not have been feeling well, but he wasn't too sick to remember who was boss in this family. But Jeff Bumb hasn't made a penny from the club since it opened in September 1994. Within weeks, Jeff says, his six-month-old dog was dead, his cat was dead and the tires of a family car were slashed. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." Well, guess what? About 20 percent of the 130 students there are Bumb relatives.) 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. 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. AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. 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 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. Three years ago, the Mercury News listed the Bumb family in the Top 10 of the valley's most generous political contributors. One wag refers to them as "the Beverly Hillbillies of San Jose." Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. Dealers stood at the tables, ready to deal the cards. OK--we didn't get out--OK? 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?" Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. "I don't need their help," he barked at Werner. By Will Harper AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. 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.

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