Billionaire Boys Club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Billionaire Boys Club was the popular nickname for BBC, an investment and social club organized by Joseph Gamsky, also known as "Joe Hunt", in southern California in 1983. The club recruited the sons of wealthy families from the Harvard School for Boys (now Harvard-Westlake School) in the Los Angeles area with the promise of quick success in business life.
The organization was run initially 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.
When authorities began investigating 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 murdering 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 murdering 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.
Dosti and Reza Eslaminia were later convicted of murdering Hedayat Eslaminia and sentenced to life without parole. Hunt acted as his own attorney during his trial for the Eslaminia murder and contended that star witness Karny had himself killed Eslaminia. The result was a hung jury, 8-4 in favor of Hunt's acquittal. Joe Hunt is the only person in California 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 remains behind bars for the Levin murder and maintains his innocence.
In 1987 NBC aired a miniseries based on the story of the Billionaire Boys Club, starring Judd Nelson as Joe Hunt, Brian McNamara as Dean Karny, and Ron Silver as Ron Levin. This movie inspired Lyle and Erik Menendez to murder their own parents for money a few years later.
Hunt was the basis for Philip Swann, the defendant in the Law & Order Season 4 episode "American Dream." The Billionaire Boys Club is also the topic of two books: The Billionaire Boys Club by Sue Horton and The Price of Experience by Randall Sullivan. The murders are also the subject of the song "Things to Do Today" by Chicago band Big Black.
[edit] References
- Horton, Sue. The Billionaire Boys Club. New York: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 1990.
- Sullivan, Randall. The Price of Experience: Money, Power, Image, and Murder in Los Angeles. New York: Atlantic Montly Press, 1996.
