The two men who would have extorted former Jumbo chief Frits van Eerd from Veghel will appear in court this Thursday. The pair is said to have forced Van Eerd in 2023 to pay more than two million euros. If he did not transfer that money, the problems would not be overseen for him ‘.
This is Olaf H. (38) and Mustapha Y. (42) from Limburg. In April 2023, six months after the arrest of Frits van Eerd, they would have sent a package to the CEO. It contained a threatening letter and a telephone.
The extursors demanded a substantial amount of 2,125,000 euros. “I hereby give you the chance to solve this neatly. You only get one chance,” said it Ad In the letter.
There was only one number on the phone: that of the extortioners. Van Eerd also received threatening messages there. For example, he received an SMS that said: “You don’t know me, I try to arrange this as well as possible so that there are no problems for you”.
Van Eerd reported the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and did not pay the extursors.
Relationship H. and Van Eerd remarkable
Olaf H. led a motocross team until 2022 that mainly ran on Jumbo money. According to the newspaper, the relationship between team boss H. and Van Eerd was remarkable from the first moment.
That relationship started in 2021 with an app from the Limburger on the Jumbo boss. H. wrote that he wanted to get in touch with Van Eerd. Van Eerd did not respond for a long time. A month after the first app rode from Eerd to the Limburg village where H. lives.
A day later, Jumbo received a sponsor proposal for more than a ton. After that, team boss H. received a few tons to his account. The sponsorship by Jumbo caused suspicion for many: H.’s team had hardly any prestige in 2021 and no other big sponsors.
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Own criminal case
In September 2022, Van Eerd was arrested on suspicion of fraud and money laundering. According to the OM, he arranged sponsor contracts in the motocross in exchange for free items or discount on them. After his arrest, he stopped as Jumbo’s CEO. The supermarket immediately stopped sponsoring the team of team boss H. and all other teams.
Van Eerd must appear in this major criminal case on 23 June. There, among other things, he will have to answer for the find of 450,000 euros in cash at his home and at his workshop. A large part of it consisted of notes of 200 and 500 euros, money that, according to investigation services, hardly occurs in normal payment transactions.
