Frits van Eerd will temporarily step down as general manager of Jumbo. This was announced Friday afternoon. Van Eerd was stuck for days in an extensive money laundering investigation and has just been released for five days.
Experts had already advised to at least temporarily suspend the activities as a figurehead of Jumbo, even though the investigation by the Fiod has nothing to do with the Jumbo company. “When you get shaved, you have to sit still,” was the opinion of experts earlier this week.
“Van Eerd has to wait and see. He’s focusing too much on the wrong subject. If he wants to avert that, he should not react to anything, but wait and leave the company in the hands of management. There is no need for him to immediately take charge again. He can concentrate better on his defence”, says Steven Schuit, emeritus professor of Governance and Responsibility at Nyenrode Business University in Breukelen.
Reputation expert Peter Smit agrees with Schuit: “Resigning is going too far, because we don’t know anything yet. A step back makes sense. It is of course also about the continuity of Jumbo, not just about Frits van Eerd himself.”
“Technically, he could stay on,” says Schuit. “But from the point of view of good governance, that would be very unwise. Van Eerd is now infected and therefore less credible in the leadership. There are plenty of good people in the company who can take over for a while.”
These experts previously said that it would be wise for Frits van Earlier to step down temporarily: