“I am not bribed, I have not arranged anything through sponsor invoices.” On Monday, Frits van Eerd sometimes broke off on the first day of his court case before the court in Groningen. The ex-Jumbobaas spoke for the first time himself and for the first time also denied the accusations of money laundering and bribery. “I find it really incomprehensible. I didn’t do anything that is not allowed.”
In a packed session in Groningen, Van Eerd answered questions from the court all day about the accusations of, among other things, bribery and money laundering. He often dropped silences and sought the right formulation. Suspect Theo E. also gave text and explanation.
Their history is important. De Brabander and De Drent are enthusiasts of the Motocross. Jumbo put money in the cross team of Theo E., but E. had a dark side. About ten years ago he passed part of the Jumbo sponsor money to a large Frisian coke smuggler. That ended with a prison sentence that E. is now sitting.
When Jumbo received air from that crime network around Theo E., it broke all contacts with him. There was also an internal protocol at Jumbo to prevent this, but no contact ban.
And it went into the cover. “It never came out. That was very explosive information. If CEO of Jumbo are a suspect, you don’t want that,” Van Eerd told the judges.
Why?
Yet Frits and Theo started working again after a while. “After the 2014 incident, he was no longer a business relationship of Jumbo. It was private,” Van Eerd defended himself on Monday. Theo E. delivered him a trailer and a car, among other things. But for a fee, Van Eerd emphasized.
The question continued to return: Why did Van Eerd contact, against better knowing? Van Eerd said on Monday that he was ‘curious’ about the end of the case in which he was first a suspect, but regretted. “Of course I should never have done this afterwards.”
Mr. Aart
The criminal circle around Theo sometimes came very close. As the man who called himself Mr. Aart, in what the police later described as the Sesame Street cartel. A gang that started to be called that because the men used pagping names from the children’s program.
Mr. Aart was a friend of Theo E. and was once parked at the head office in Veghel, according to the monitoring beacon under his car. “I can’t remember it has been,” said Van Eerd.
Horse dealer
And then there was a sponsored Brabant motocross rider who was investigated for drug crimes. He continued a part of his sponsor money to a villa in Marbella, Spain. And then there was a horse dealer from Drenthe, treasurer of a racing team and drug dealer.
The court chairman took full from a series of investigative investigations into, among other things, drug gangs, sometimes from years ago. All sidecar in the file but with question marks from the Public Prosecution Service.
Moneytak
There were also plenty of questions about the hundreds of banknotes of 500 and 200 euros that Van Eerd had. Especially about the 75,000 euros in a Jumbotas, hidden in a fridge. All for his hobby, Woorden van Eerd.
“I am a collector, and I used that money for that. The fridge was in a place where nobody comes, except myself. If I had known that I had to explain why I had put money in a fridge, I would of course not have done that. I didn’t have a good explanation for it, it was to spread it a bit. It is absolutely no criminal money, really legal, he said.”
No invoices, envelopes full of money, an employee of the Jumbo who sells Frits’ things, because Frits himself did not want to be on Marktplaats. The judges had many questions about that behavior. “I understand that asking evokes,” Van Eerd admitted.
Bribery
Van Eerd was fierce about the accusations that E. would have bribed him. “I find it really incomprehensible. I didn’t do anything that is not allowed I am not bribed at all.” Theo E. supported his words. “I just think that man is not to buy.”
At the end of the long session day, Van Eerd became emotional. “I managed one of the largest companies in the Netherlands for 25 years. From one day to the next I was out because I was lifted from my bed and I did not know what to do with God.”
Van Eerd stopped following the news items. “See what the media are doing, really unprecedented. And why? Continuous someone pushing the abyss. It hurts so much.”
The process continues on Tuesday. Then the public prosecutors read the indictment and follow the criminal requirements.