He had hidden piles of banknotes in the fridge at his office and in his house. For a wealthy businessman like Frits van Eerd (58) that is unusual. And what did the Jumbo CEO always have to look for in a crime network? The case has been screaming for explanation for a few years. And that explanation will hopefully come this week, from Frits himself. Because from this Monday on, he will be a suspect in court in Groningen for, among other things, money laundering through sponsor contracts.
His showpiece Jumbo in Veghel grew in a short time from supermarket mouse to giant. Director Frits van Eerd was at the basis of that success story. What nobody knew was that this respected and beloved entrepreneur in the same flowering time dark figures around him. The shock was great when there was a raid and arrest followed.
At home at Frits in Heeswijk-Dinther, 197,000 euros Cash was in various safes. At his office in Veghel there was more than 250,000 euros in banknotes. The money was hidden in a Jumbotas in a fridge, but also in the bookcase, in envelopes and in his workshop.
For the police and the Public Prosecution Service (OM), there is a hidden money of a total of 448.00 euros an indication of money laundering: because you don’t want others to find it. Moreover, there were a few hundred notes between 500 and 200 euros. That is a typical tender for the underworld.
“My client runs into a wall at the OM, what he says is not believed.”
Van Eerd never responded to the events. His lawyer Robbert Jonk does. According to him, you have to see that money in proportion: Van Eerd is very wealthy. This is a lot of money for the outside world, but he looks at it differently.
Van Eerd has always emphasized through his lawyer that the money does not come from crime, his lawyer repeated the case at the end of January during the last interim session. “My client runs into a wall at the OM, what he says is not believed.”
The same thing about trying to conclude a ‘deal’ with Van Eerd. Process agreements have been common in recent years in large lawsuits. It prevents long -term and complicated processes. Van Eerd did not agree. Probably because you also know guilt. And Van Eerd argues innocently.
More suspects
Van Eerd is not the only suspect in the criminal case. The other protagonist is Theo E. (61) a criminal car dealer from Drenthe. He and Van Eerd have known each other for about 25 years from the motocross circuit, their great passion. Van Eerd sponsored his team.
The money flows would have been obscured by cheating with contracts and invoices. So forgery. This Theo is E. has also been sued for other things that Van Eerd has nothing to do with, such as tax fraud.
There are two more co -suspects who play a smaller role. It is a man from Overijssel and one from Drenthe. They have been sued for tampering with sponsor contracts one of them also had a motocross team and was sponsored by Frits van Eerd for a total of a total of million, but part of that money would then have arrived at Theo E..
The OM has imposed criminal decisions on four other suspects. A few other people have not been persecuted.
Van Eerd ‘by -catch’
The police tracked Van Eerd as ‘by -catch’. There was an investigation into a drug gang. Van Eerd suddenly appeared. And it wasn’t the first time.
The Algemeen Dagblad discovered that Van Eerd already came into the picture with the police and the judiciary when telephones were tapped from criminals, including Theo E. van Eerd sponsored him then already. E. locked money to a Frisian drug criminal. He later received 12 years in prison for coke smuggling.
In this video you can see how Van Eerd became entangled according to justice In a network of corruption:
Waiting for privacy settings …
Jumbo already noticed that the sponsor money that the group was transferred for something other than agreed. The supermarket company concluded that it was scammed by the sponsor and reported. It is unlikely that Van Eerd knew about it, Jumbo concluded. For a moment, Van Eerd became ‘suspect’ of money laundering, but that turned into ‘witness’ and he was not prosecuted. Theo E. did and it was also punished.
Cash
The case went into the cover. The ties between Frits and Theo were officially broken. After a while they suddenly turned together again. And again sponsor money was transmitted, indirectly sometimes and through complicated constructions and especially: cash.
Also sometimes in exchange for things such as a low -loader and a car that received from Eerd and that were parked behind the head office in Veghel. Or a load of tools. In that construction the OM sees bribery: Frits supplied a sponsor contract in exchange for theo things.
Why Van Eerd continued to keep in touch with this Theo is a mystery. Because he already had bad experiences years ago and there was a conviction of E. a man with contacts in the underworld.
In the coming days, those questions may be an answer to the court in Groningen because there is the trial.