"I don't need their help," he barked at Werner. They recorded the conversation. Eight days after the molestation incident was reported to police--and one day after Jeff Bumb formally refused his father's $6.9 million buyout offer--George Bumb Sr. sent Jeff a curt typewritten memo informing Jeff that he was terminated effective immediately and had to clean out his desk before 5pm. In 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. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. I'm on the hook for $15 million. 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. 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. A nurse was present to monitor his condition. "He worked for me." Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. Jeff's grandfather, Frank Bumb, had met his wife, Mary, at a card parlor in San Francisco where they worked. 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. 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. "I liked my name," he maintains. 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. Whenever trouble arose at the Flea Market with city code or building inspectors, the Bumbs sent Jeff to settle things. Or at least he thought he didn't. "They didn't teach anything about this. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. 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. But the Bumbs are hardly traditional political players. OK--we didn't get out--OK? Split Personality: The Bumb family made millions off of the San Jose Flea Market (below), started by George Bumb Sr. in 1960, and bolstered its financial fortunes with the opening of Bay 101 in 1994, a project started by now-outcast son Jeff Bumb. "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 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. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. Well, guess what? "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." On Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. 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 Nov. 8, 1995, attorney Albin Danell, Elizabeth's brother-in-law, contacted the police, apparently after consulting with Elizabeth. 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. He and his brothers had a plan, he says. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." 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. "My issue with [George Bumb Sr.]," Jeff Bumb complains about his father, "was his control of where you lived, what kind of house you bought, where your children went to school, who your friends are, whether your children went to college, who they would marry, what kind of wedding they would have." When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. 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." 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. 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." Well, guess what? "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." It pitted Bumb against Bumb. 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. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. 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. 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. 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. He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. 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. "They didn't teach anything about this. "He took care of it." He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. 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. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" He also pulled off an armed robbery of the Aloha Roller Palace. But he didn't cash out. 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. And for nearly a month, they did. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." 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. He chose the building's peachy-pink paint job, he says, because he wanted "a pleasant, welcoming earth tone." Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. It's like we had no life except for the family." They recorded the conversation. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. 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. You know the school we went to?" (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) 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. 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. I'm on the hook for $15 million. "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." 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. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. "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." 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. And he [Jeff] wants me to violate the condition which says in it that I sign away my rights and they close us down. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Meanwhile, Jeff and his lawyers spent 15 months trying get his father to appear at a deposition. 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. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. There were flowers everywhere. The district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. It wasn't the money, either. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. 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. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) Or at least he thought he didn't. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. "He took care of it." 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." "I'm a big boy." 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. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) The gambling palace Jeff Bumb--the oldest son who is often described as the most entrepreneurial of the four brothers--had in mind was going to take a lot of effort and political skill. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. Before the end of the month, the Flea Market laid off Jeff's daughters Anne and Rebecca. 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. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. And Jeff himself had been playing poker since he was 12. 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." 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. "He worked for me." And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did.
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