La Creolina Mata El Nervio De La Muela, Articles B

His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. When Jeff and Brian were denied licenses for Bay 101, Tim (above) and brother George Jr. jumped in. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. 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. 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. His crimes included taking valuables from the bereaved family members of dead crime victims while pretending to console them. Tim and George Jr. would appeal and reapply, the hope being that the club would open as soon as possible. Werner said no. "Could he [Jeff] do any other work on his own behalf?" "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. VENZON WAS well known to the Bumbs. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. Well, George, whether you want to believe it or not I do love you and you are like a father to me." 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. Preventive Medicine: George Bumb Jr. is a co-owner of Bay 101, where a snakebite kit is kept on-hand as a family joke. At the time, San Jose, like cities throughout the state, was strapped for cash, looking at an $11 million budget shortfall. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. "They had to find Snow White and Cinderella," Tim Bumb says, "and that was George and I." 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." And it was very explicit in there that no Bumbs could have anything to do with the club. 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 his long tenure at the Flea Market, Venzon apparently developed a close relationship with George Bumb Sr. Tim and George Jr. would appeal and reapply, the hope being that the club would open as soon as possible. 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 couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. Well, guess what? 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. The teenagers had been drinking booze earlier in the night. 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. 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. Werner said no. Jeff didn't mind, though. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. Christopher Gardner He also runs day-to-day operations at the family-owned Flea Market. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. It's like we had no life except for the family." 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 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. Christopher Gardner "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." FROM THE START, Jeff's three brothers and father didn't share his enthusiasm for opening a lavish gaming house. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. But Jeff was confident. Christopher Gardner "They didn't teach anything about this. But there was no gambling done that night. (That thing that involved Jeff when Bay 101 was scheduled to open but didn't.)" But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. ALL TOGETHER, the intrafamily litigation has spanned nearly three years. 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. AN ATTORNEY involved likened the whole contentious affair to a divorce. It pitted Bumb against Bumb. Along the way, Jeff raised the ante, hiring Frank Ubhaus, a lawyer who represented Garden City card club, Bay 101's crosstown rival. And then, just when it seemed as though family relations couldn't get any worse, they did. 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. The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. 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 couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. The couple even had a purchase contract for a $850,000 house on Golf Links Road. 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. But Jeff says the loan dispute screwed up their moving plans. 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. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. Jeff tells the story differently: "Matthew was my godson. Today, Bumb family enterprises include the local Premium Pet Stores chain, Air One Helicopters and, of course, 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. There were flowers everywhere. The card club has done more than bring unwanted public scrutiny to this insular group. 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 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. So Jeff, Brian and the remaining non-family partners backed out of Bay 101, handing everything over to Tim and George Jr. The guy doesn't get a slap on the hand." Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. In fact, he hasn't set foot in the place since October 1995, the year he stopped talking to his father and three brothers. Initially, police filed felony charges against Matthew Bumb for having oral sex with a minor and penetrating her with his fingers. After learning of the incident, Jeff and wife Elizabeth did not report the matter to police immediately. Toward the end of the call, things got heated. She recalled that she was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt covered by a blanket. 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. "Hell, no," George Bumb replied. she said, referring to the family-run Catholic school at the Flea Market. attorney Frank Ubhaus asked the Bumb patriarch. "I'm a big boy." George Bumb Sr., an avid card player, held a regular weekly family poker game at his home. Soon after his confession, the word started spreading in the family about what happened. Three years ago, the Mercury News listed the Bumb family in the Top 10 of the valley's most generous political contributors. But he didn't cash out. 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. But the Bumbs are hardly traditional political players. I'm on the hook for $15 million. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. George Bumb Sr., an avid card player, held a regular weekly family poker game at his home. Jeff's daughter interrupted Matthew and said, "And I didn't know better. You know the school we went to?" 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. Snow White or Cinderella? Finally, in July 1994, the state cleared Tim and George and gave them a conditional OK to let the games begin. 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. Matthew Bumb's attorney argued that the relationship was consensual. "My wife broke the code," he says, "and I supported her." Well, guess what? FROM THE protected confines of his silver 1998 Lexus SC 400, Jeff Bumb peers out his window to take in the imposing sight of the 72,000-square-foot salmon-hued house of cards he once called his baby. The Bumbs had a plenty of experience with a cash business through the Flea Market, which they've run for almost 40 years. 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. 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. But he didn't cash out. 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.