Frits van Eerd came into the crosshairs of the FIOD and the police after an earlier investigation in which a Brabant drug cartel was rounded up. The Financieele Dagblad (FD) reported this on Saturday. The Jumbo boss is a suspect in a major fraud and money laundering case. Several tons of cash were found in his home in Heeswijk-Dinther on September 13 during a search.
The FD bases itself on sources surrounding the money laundering investigation ‘Hille’ into, among others, Frits van Eerd and main suspect Theo E. from Gasteren. It is known that the latter supplied lease cars to serious criminals in Amsterdam.
‘Pino, Mister Aart and Tommie’
E. was a suspect in the 2019 investigation into the Brabant drug gang. At the time, messages were intercepted via secure PGP telephones under the name ’26Eufaula’. The drug cartel was nicknamed the “Sesame Street Cartel” because the gang members named themselves after characters from the children’s show. But Pino, Mister Aart and Tommie weren’t really that innocent.
This year, the court in Zwolle convicted a total of seventeen suspects for money laundering and large-scale drug trafficking that ran through the port of Antwerp. The gang members from Roosendaal, Sint Willebrord and Eindhoven, among others, had to go to jail for years without exception. The three leaders of the Brabant drug cartel were sentenced to six, seven and nine years in prison.
Eavesdropped conversationknow
Although the prosecution against Theo E. was dropped in this case, the information from the cracked messages did lead to a new investigation. That focused on the money laundering practices that E. himself would have. Conversations between the suspect from Gasteren and business partners were tapped.
money laundering
On 13 September, the FIOD tax investigation service and the police carried out house searches in several places, including Frits van Eerd’s house. He was jailed for five days on suspicion of money laundering. According to the judiciary, this happened through real estate transactions, car deals, cash deposits and sponsorship contracts in motocross sports. There would also be VAT fraud in the car trade. Jumbo’s top man is known as a great motorsport enthusiast.
A total of nine suspects were arrested. The main suspect E. led a motocross team in the past, of which Jumbo was a sponsor. He brought drivers who were looking for a financial backer into contact with Frits van Eerd.
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