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. And that ain't happening because I can't afford it." 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. There were flowers everywhere. Hamilton, where Latin mass is conducted on a regular basis. 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. 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 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. "What am I going to say to the vice president?" Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. 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. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." A nurse was present to monitor his condition. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. 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. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) 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. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. 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. 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. When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. The state, still busy conducting background checks, still hadn't approved the Bumbs and their partners' gaming licenses. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. 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. "I'm a big boy." Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. "He took care of it." Snow White or Cinderella? And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. Christopher Gardner (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) "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." 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. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. He followed that with suits alleging breach of contract, wrongful termination and misrepresentation. "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. "It made you tough, made you get a thick skin." "He didn't like the music," John recalled, "so he would make a mess." 12 kids in I think it was 12 years. Privacy hasn't been so easy to come by for the Bumbs in the '90s, since they got involved in Bay 101. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. "I liked my name," he maintains. Werner said no. 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. Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. It did the unthinkable: When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. And for nearly a month, they did. The Flea Market has a rich history that began in 1960, when George Bumb, Sr., the patriarch of the family, opened it with only 20 vendors at the time. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. "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. 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. 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. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" 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 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." When Werner broke the news that Jeff's brothers wouldn't write a letter on his behalf, he says Jeff became furious. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. 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. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." As legend has it, the Bumbs still send a monthly check to the widow of a former head of security who died of a brain tumor 20 years ago. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. OK--we didn't get out--OK? 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. EVERY DAY THE CLUB stayed closed, the Bumbs lost more money. Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. Jeff signed a deal with his brothers that prohibited him from owning Bay 101 stock until he got all the necessary licenses. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. 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. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." Christopher Gardner 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. The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." "I'm a big boy." Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. 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. He demanded $10 million from his brothers to compensate him for violating the purported secret Bay 101 deal. 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." 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 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. "He took care of it." Tim and George Jr. would appeal and reapply, the hope being that the club would open as soon as possible. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. 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. 1246 Ridgeline Ct, San Jose, CA, 95127-4326. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. The state, still busy conducting background checks, still hadn't approved the Bumbs and their partners' gaming licenses. 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. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. 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. 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. 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. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. (In one case, George Bumb Sr. loaned Jeff $31,250 in 1992 for his son to invest in Bay 101.) 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." 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 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. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." It's like we had no life except for the family." She told police about at least seven other sexual encounters she had with her cousin after that. Tim, the second youngest of George Bumb's four boys, was already running the family toy business, Fact Games, and Premium Pet Stores. You think this didn't break my heart?" 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. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." 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 then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. Timothy's net worth hovers over $250,000 - $499,999 with a yearly income that's about $150 - 174,999. 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 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. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. 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. He was also the kind of guy, police records reveal, who told his mother about the incidents "because he felt guilty." It's like we had no life except for the family." 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. In fact, Tim and George had to agree not to collaborate with other Bumbs on any new business venture. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. 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. About 20 percent of the 130 students there are Bumb relatives.) Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. But Jeff was confident. "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." You know the school we went to?" You could also do it yourself at any point in time. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" 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. 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 says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. It pitted Bumb against Bumb. 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. The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. 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. 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." The two, she said, never talked about what was going on while it was happening. 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. And Jeff himself had been playing poker since he was 12. 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. Christopher Gardner I'm on the hook for $15 million. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. 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. 1590 Berryessa Rd San Jose, CA 95133 1390 Berryessa Rd San Jose, CA 95133. Jeff's grandfather, Frank Bumb, had met his wife, Mary, at a card parlor in San Francisco where they worked. 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. Eight months later, the frame of the weapon was found in a Salinas pond near Venzon's home with the barrel and slide missing. 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. 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. 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 tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. At the time, San Jose, like cities throughout the state, was strapped for cash, looking at an $11 million budget shortfall. 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. 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. According to Jeff, there was tremendous pressure from his father and others in the family to keep the incest a secret. 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. During his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. He also disputes that such a letter was even necessary for Jeff to get licensed. 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. Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. But Jeff was confident. Jeff entertained offers to buy the club, the highest bid, he recalls, coming in at $40 million. 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. Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. Almost four months later, on July 21, 1998, George Bumb Sr. appeared in the downtown offices of Berliner Cohen to have his deposition taken. 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. They recorded the conversation. In a fit, he took the paper he was writing on, crumpled it up and threw it out the office door. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Or at least he thought he didn't. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. At the time, Jeff was in the midst of negotiating an arrangement to be bought out of the family businesses. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. It did the unthinkable: 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. Of the four brothers, Tim and George had faced the least resistance from state gaming officials. Matthew is the kind of guy a relative described to police as "polite," the guy parents wanted their daughters to date. "And I told you that I loved you and you are like a father to me. He started telling people around the office that he wanted out of the family business. 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." 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 district attorney's office says that Bumb attorney Ron Werner turned the letter over to authorities immediately after it came in the mail. And as with any divorce, embarrassing private details about the family and its businesses made their way into the public record. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. And for nearly a month, they did. He and his brothers had a plan, he says.