Billionaire Boys Club

The Billionaire Boys Club (BBC) was an investment-and-social club

organized by Joseph Henry Gamsky,[1] also known as "Joe Hunt", in
southern California in 1983. It was originally simply named "BBC"; the
initials of a business named the Bombay Bicycle Club, arestaurant Gamsky
had frequented in his earlier years while growing up in Chicago.[2]
The organization was run as a Ponzi scheme, and money contributed by
investors was spent on supporting lavish lifestyles for young members of
the club. When funds ran short in 1984, Hunt and other club members
turned to murder, and at least two people were killed as Hunt tried to raise
more money.
The club enticed the sons of wealthy families from the Harvard School for
Boys (now Harvard-Westlake School) in the Los Angeles area with get-richquick schemes. Because of the reputation of the organization being
composed of young, inexperienced boys from moneyed families, jocose
slang got around that "BBC" stood for "Billionaire Boys' Club". [3] During his
high school years, Gamsky and his brother were high-profile members of the
Harvard School debate team.[citation needed] However, Gamsky was thrown out of
the USC Summer Debate Institute in 1975 after admitting he fabricated
evidence.[citation needed] In 2008 Joe Hunt published a book, "Blue Dharma",
which received acclaim from Kirkus Discoveries - "A winning and complex
fantasy tale." The story was recounted in the 1987 movie Billionaire Boys
Club. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal agreed to hear his appeal on July 1,
2014.
The organization was run as a Ponzi scheme,[4][5][6][7][8] and money
contributed by investors was spent on supporting lavish lifestyles for young
members of the club. When funds ran short in 1984, Hunt and other club
members turned to murder, and at least two people were killed as Hunt
tried to raise more money.
When authorities began to investigate the murders, Dean Karny, the club's
second-in-command and Hunt's best friend, turned state's evidence in
return for immunity from prosecution. Hunt and club-security director Jim
Pittman were charged with the murder of Ron Levin, a con artist who had
allegedly swindled the BBC out of over $4 million. Hunt, Pittman, club
member Arben Dosti, and Reza Eslaminia were charged with the murder of
Hedayat Eslaminia, Reza's father, allegedly to acquire his fortune which was
reputed to be $35 million.
In 1987, Hunt was found guilty of the 1984 murder of Ron Levin and
sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Pittman had two
trials, and both ended in hung juries. He later pleaded guilty to being
an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. After
his release, he admitted in an interview to have participated in the murder,
knowing he could not be re-tried due to the restriction on double jeopardy.
Dosti and Reza Eslaminia were later convicted of murdering Hedayat
Eslaminia and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Hunt acted as

his own attorney during his trial for the Eslaminia murder and contended
that star witness Karny had killed Eslaminia. The result was a hung jury, 84,
in favor of Hunt's acquittal. Joe Hunt is the only person in California's legal
history to represent himself in a capital case and not receive the death
penalty. The convictions of Dosti and Reza Eslaminia were later overturned.
Hunt remained in prison for the Levin murder, but maintained his innocence.

Alleged Ron Levin sightings

Several witnesses testified that they saw Ron Levin in 1986 and 1987 in
Greece, Beverly Hills, and Los Angeles.[9] On the basis of the witnesses'
statements, Hunt sought to have his murder conviction overturned and get
a new trial. His direct appeal was denied on July 12, 1996. [10] However, in a
federal habeas proceeding in 2004, Hunt's continuing effort to have his
murder conviction overturned was revived, as the Ninth Circuit reversed a
dismissal of his habeas petition.[11] The federal court granted Hunt until
September 2008, to file further documents, and it is not clear what
happened to the petition after that date. [12]

Joe Hunt stands trial for the murder of Ron

Levin c.1986 (trutv.com)

Joe Hunt c.2000 (bluedharma.com)

by Katherine Ramsland
(excerpt)
A PSYCHOPATH
Joe Hunt, a.k.a. Joe Gamsky, was the second son of Kathy and Larry
Gamsky. He was born on Halloween in 1959, and as he grew up, it
was clear to his educators that he was academically gifted. Author
Randall Sullivan writes that one teacher said that he was not only
the brightest student she had ever seen, but was mature and
"preternaturally calm." Little did she know she was describing the
essence of a psychopath.
The foremost expert on the condition known as psychopathy,
Canadian researcher Dr. Robert Hare, says that psychopaths display
certain obvious traits, notably a lack of attachment to others,
impulsive decision-making, a lack of remorse, a tendency to
rationalize what they do and to blame others, a charming and
manipulative manner, and a lack of empathy. Joe Hunt would grow
into all of these qualities, along with a verbal fluency that bordered
on glibness. He was also arrogant and narcissistic, and he never
failed to grab the opportunity to exploit others. Even without a
formal diagnosis, descriptions of his words and behavior easily fit
the prototype.
In fact, everyone noticed that young Joe was quite competitive,
with a drive toward perfection. He had to create an impression on
others and he had to win. Even worse, he cheated sometimes, and
he lied. Or rather, he "rationalized" a sticky situation to make it

look different to others than it really was. This strategy became his
trademark, and when he set for himself the task of improving his
vocabulary, he added another weapon: a wealth of words that
mesmerized others. He became a talented and intimidating
salesman.
THE CLUB
Joe and his older brother were both admitted into a prestigious Los
Angeles prep school, the Harvard Club, on a scholarship. Joe, 12,
didn't fit in very well with the children of actors, moviemakers, and
corporate businessmen. His principal liability was his family's lack
of money, but at that point in his development, he was also socially
awkward. He joined the forensic club, which gave him a modest
social life, but when he falsified evidence during a debate, he was
kicked off. He took it hard, but rebounded.
Joe's father, who insisted that his children call him Larry, viewed
himself as Joe's teacher. He insisted, as author Sue Horton put it,
that his children become self-sufficient as quickly as possible. After
Joe dropped out of the University of Southern California, Larry sent
him to business school, where at the age of 19, he passed the
examination for Certified Public Accountant. While he was the
youngest person to have been successfully tutored for it by a
specific firm, he bragged that he was the youngest person in the
entire state of California to have passed the exam. (In the film
based on Horton's book, he's presented as the youngest in the
entire country.)
Joe managed to impress two other young men, Dean Karny and Ben
Dosti, who had attended the Harvard School as well. He began to
hang around with them and mentioned that he would like to start
an investment club with members from well-to-do families who
could make a good impression and help the club to succeed. He
described some of his ideas for trading commodities at low risk,
and the other boys were impressed. He also told them he wanted to
create a corporation with a Utopian atmosphere based on the works
of Ayn Rand, where each person would do what he was best
qualified to do. However, he would need money to get started.
Then in 1980, Joe's father, divorced from Kathy, moved to Chicago.
Joe went with him and learned his way around the floor of the
Chicago Mercantile Exchange. He was a bold trader, impressing
those around him, and he managed to do very well. He convinced
Dean Karny's parents to invest money with him, and they gave him
$150,000.
It was right around that time that Joe's father changed his name to
Ryan Hunt, and Joe followed suite by accepting the new last name.
The difference was that Larry changed his name through legal
channels and Joe did not.

Then in short order, he lost 14 million dollars. His story was that
he'd been squeezed out by people who were jealous of his success.
In the movie, he named the Mafia and a Middle East conglomerate,
but in Horton's book, he blamed a large brokerage house. When he
returned to L.A. two years after he'd left, he had four dollars, but
he assured those who had lost money with him that he had a
surefire plan for making it back, and then some. For some reason,
they believed him.
"You won power over a person through the knowledge of two
things, Joe explained: One was what they wanted, the other was
what they feared."
What the investors did not know was the Joe had actually taken
their money but had failed to register it under the investors'
names. He was investigated and then suspended from trading for
10 years.
However, that didn't stop Joe Hunt. He knew ways around the
system, and he soon inspired Ben and Dean to help him gather
people for a club, which he wanted to call the BBC, after the
Bombay Bicycle Club in Chicago, where he used to play videogames.
It wasn't difficult for three young men, dressed well and with the
gift of the gab, to interest other young men in their ideas. After all,
image was everything, and they looked pretty good. Ben and Dean
believed in Joe, and Joe knew how to talk a good talk. In short
order, the club was up and rolling, fed by nave and gullible
investors.
PARODOX PHILOSOPHY
Joe liked to persuade people that life was best lived and business
best done according to what he called "paradox" philosophy. It was
a combination of situation and utilitarian ethics: the ends justified
the means, and one should do whatever had to be done to benefit
oneself. From different perspectives, the same item or situation can
have contradictory qualities: White is black and black is white.
Everything depends on how you look at it. As long as there was a
payoff, one could reconcile oneself to doing anything.Anything.
The core group of "boys," as they called themselves, prepared a
presentation in 1983 to give to 30 prospective members, in which
Joe outlined how the club would be formed. Sue Horton points out
that he took his central tenets from science fiction: People would
operate in "cells" comprised of a small number of members, and a
"nexus" for communication. They would propose "shapes," or
monetary projects, for approval by the whole club, and the shape
would have an "output."
The club itself was to be run by specific levels of personnel, and the
three founders were to be called "Shadings." A Shading, someone
who operated in a shaded realm between black and white, was
eligible for leadership because he was the one who best understood

paradox philosophy and who was committed to protecting it by

doing whatever needed to be done. Shadings would be judges in
the Paradox Court, and they would resolve all internal disputes.
As Joe put together his company and brought in more members always young men from families of wealth or breeding - he gave
them a test, which was later described in court as the following:
"Would you murder someone, if you knew you could get away with
it, for a million dollars?"
"No."
"Would you do it if it were a matter of saving your life?"
"No."
"Would you murder someone if you had to do it to save your
mother?"
"Well...yes."
"Then you can't claim that you have a line you won't cross."
If there were no moral absolutes, as Joe contended, then it was just
a matter of believing sufficiently in the situation to take the
necessary action.
Joe was always angling for psychological leverage, no matter what
the gain: one-upsmanship with a wine connoisseur, deceiving an
investor about where his funds were going, or manipulating his
partners to do whatever he asked.
In fact, they did not even get salaries. Most had allowances from
their parents, so Joe would buy them things, pick up dinner tabs,
and sometimes offer them rolls of cash from out of his pockets. He
kept pretty strict control over them. He was the benevolent father.
"He mesmerized us," one of the members later admitted. Joe had a
charismatic manner and an ability to tell convincing stories about
his success, as well as to lay out clearly what had to be done to
continue to have that success. The others all bought into his
schemes and became emotionally dependent. Joe's method was to
instill in them an all-encompassing desire for flashy cars, beautiful
girls, and classy living so that they'd go along with anything he did,
including murder.
CON vs CON - While his ultimate dream was to house all his boys
together in a huge condominium as a single social and business
unit, Joe knew that would take a lot of money. He looked around for
investments and decided to get the BBC into the energy arena, so
he persuaded Gene Browning, a bio-scientist, to sell him rights to
an attrition machine he called a Cyclotron. They would give him a
salary, a house, and a car in return for the rights to develop and
market the machine. Browning agreed.

Now they needed even more money, so they looked around for
people interested in investing in the development of more
prototypes of this machine, under the auspices of a company called
Microgenesis.
To make a better impression, Joe rented an expensive office suite,
told investors he was making money hand over fist, and built the
BBC into a company that looked prosperous and busy. In reality, the
boys didn't have a lot to do. Nor was Joe investing money. Instead,
he was using whatever he brought in to pay the rent, throw lavish
parties, and build up his fleet of cars.
He needed big money and he needed it fast. Enter, Ron Levin.
Levin had a reputation for running a lot of sideline businesses at
once, but he was also a con man who'd served time in prison. Joe
figured that he and Levin would have a meeting of the minds and
that he, Joe, would emerge the winner. Levin agreed to meet him
and hear him out, but failed to offer him any money. Joe kept
badgering him, and eventually told him that he'd gotten a large
investment from someone else. He even showed him the check.
Levin just laughed at the other investor's gullibility.
However, he agreed to let Joe prove himself. He set up a credit line
of five million dollars with a certain investment firm, and Joe could
use that to show his mettle. While Joe initially lost four million, he
got a few tips from another commodities broker and within seven
weeks, he had driven Levin's five million up to fourteen million.
Then Levin closed the account. Joe had been promised half the
profit for the BBC, so they fully expected a check to be sent to them
for over four million dollars.
They started the celebration early by leasing condos in a ritzy
neighborhood overlooking Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Joe
described his vision of them all living and working together in the
same place, one big family. He was ebullient that night as he talked
about the luxury cars they would buy to share.
However, even in the midst of all this revelry, one of the members,
Dave May, began to have reservations. He didn't buy into Joe's
ideas, although his twin brother, Tom, obviously did. He decided to
wait and watch.
It wasn't long before Joe began to wonder why the check wasn't
arriving. Levin avoided his calls, so he called the broker and
learned that the entire operation had been on paper only. There
never had been any money. It was all a game.
In fact, in the days to come, Joe discovered it was even worse than
that: Levin had used him to con someone else. He'd taken the
statements from Joe's paper trading to show to another investment
firm as a way to get a sizable loan. The con had conned the con.

Then Levin said he'd used the money to buy a shopping center in
Chicago, and he would give the BBC a share. They thought they
were again on the rise, but soon discovered there was no shopping
center.
Yet Joe wasn't about to just accept defeat. Now he was in deep
financial trouble, as well as having a bruised ego. He had to face his
boys and tell them the truth, but according to statements some of
them later made, he added that one day he would kill Ron Levin.
THE LIST - Dean introduced Joe to a security guard who called
himself Jim Graham, although in reality his name was Jim Pittman.
He was a muscled black man who claimed to have once played pro
football and to have won weight-lifting contests. He had fled
Delaware to escape felony charges. Yet because he knew things
about guns and explosives, he was allowed into the inner sanctum.
He became the BBC's head of security.
Around this time, one of the boys figured out that the group was
spending around $70,000 a month, but he didn't see that same
amount coming back as income. He realized that Joe was spending
money entrusted to him by investors. Clearly, things were
deteriorating.
Joe decided it was time to pressure Levin to pay them at least
something. He decided that he would have to force Levin to sign
over some assets and then kill him. He would leave a contract for
Microgenesis in Levin's home so that it would be easy to explain
why he had a signed check, and he created a paper trail by writing
a series of letters back and forth about the deal. These, too, would
be planted in Levin's house. Being the organized person that he
was, one day Joe made a seven-page list of things that had to be
done, that included some of the following:
Jim digs pit.
Joe arrives at 9:00. Lets Jim in.
Execution of agreements.
Close blinds
Tape mouth
Handcuf
Kill dog.
The plan was to take some dinners over to Ron as a friendly gesture
so they could have a meeting. Then Jim would arrive with a gun and
demand money that Joe supposedly owed him. Joe would tell Levin
that Jim was a Mafia enforcer and that he will kill them both if Levin
doesn't sign over a sizable check. Once they had the check, they
would pack Levin's bags, since he was scheduled to go to New York
the following day, and "send" him out of town. Then Jim would go to
New York and use Levin's credit cards in the hotels to make it look
as if he had actually gone there.

On Wednesday, June 6, 1984, Joe and Jim carried out this plan. They
got Levin to sign over a check from a Swiss bank account for
$1,500,000. Then they handcuffed him and took him into the
bedroom, where they made him lie face down on the white
comforter of his bed. One of the two men shot Levin - it was never
clear who - and then they wrapped him in the comforter and hauled
him outside to stuff into the trunk of a BMW.
It was Joe's idea to take him to Soledad Canyon, about an hour from
Los Angeles. He often went hunting there, and he had noticed that
it would be a great dumping ground: anything or anyone left there
would never be found.
Dean Karny later testified that Joe had described what they had
done at the canyon as an added touch: They shot Levin's corpse
numerous times to make him unrecognizable. During this grisly
session, Levin's brain had popped out of his skull and landed on his
chestan image that Karny was never to forget. What made it
worse was the way Joe told the tale, as if he though it had been
kind of neat to watch.
Then Jim went off to New York,while Joe tried to cash the check.
He'd left the contract and correspondence in Levin's house, so he
felt perfectly safe, but what he'd forgotten in all the haste to get
rid of the body was the "to do" list. That, too, was back at the
house.
THE COVER UP - Jim Graham got himself into trouble when Levin's
credit cards proved to be over-extended. He tried to flee from the
luxury hotel off Central Park where he'd been staying, but he was
caught and arrested. Joe flew east to bail him out. Then he found
out even worse news: Levin's check had been refused.
He knew it was time for another meeting. Referring to the Levin
matter as "Mac," he talked things over with Dean Karny, who was
stunned by what had taken place but who did nothing to encourage
Joe to turn himself in.
They handpicked the members they felt they could trust and
divulged to eight more people the facts about Levin's murder. Joe
Hunt told them it was "the perfect crime."
At least, it was perfect within his narcissistic delusions. Little did
he know what was forming around him among those who thought
he was dangerous.
The boys to whom Joe confessed all seemed to go along with it, but
some were secretly getting cold feet. Dave May, who was not at the
meeting, nevertheless heard about what had taken place. He went
to his father to admit how wrong he'd been about Joe Hunt and to
ask for help. His father brought in an attorney.
The attorney pointed out the difficulties: There were no witnesses,
no body, no proof, no missing-person report, and Hunt was known

as a liar. They would have to get some hard evidence, possibly in

the form of documents. The boys should just return to work as if
nothing had happened, so as to avoid making Hunt suspicious.
To raise morale, Joe threw another expensive party and used
$20,000 to purchase 10 matching motorcycles. The boys were
impressed. Looking at those bikes, it was easy to forget that they
had some real problems.
In the meantime, Ron Levin's father asked the police to check into
his son's disappearance. They found a thick file on him for fraud,
theft, and other scams. Because it was no surprise that a con man
might turn up missing, they shrugged it off.
Then the BBC found another target.