The Jumbo flags are proudly flying at the Jumbo Foodstore on the Noordkade in Veghel. The luxury store is the flagship of the supermarket chain that has its home base in Veghel. If you drive along the Zuid-Willemsvaart into the industrial city of Brabant, you will see offices and distribution centers of the supermarket chain of the van Eerd family for miles.
“The media is blowing everything up,” says a woman who has just gone shopping at the supermarket. She believes in the innocence of Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd, even though the police and FIOD raided his house on Tuesday and he would have even spent a night in jail. “We still know so little, we’ll just have to wait and see”, is the reaction of most customers in Veghel.
“You don’t expect someone with that much money to launder.”
“I’ve heard the supermarket has nothing to do with it,” says one man. “But I am curious what exactly Frits van Eerd has done,” says a man. He is surprised: “You don’t expect someone with so much money to launder, of course.” Although Jumbo itself is not involved, it does stain the name, he thinks. Incidentally, regardless of the outcome, the man does not intend to exchange Jumbo for another supermarket.
Another man who is sheltering from the rain in front of the store is very outspoken about the discredited Jumbo CEO: “I think it sucks that Frits is portrayed in a bad light. When you work with strange people, it is always be careful.” The man is convinced of Frits’ innocence: “The chance that he has done something wrong is zero and that applies to the entire van Eerd family, I wish them a lot of success.”
“Nothing has been proven yet.”
A woman who comes to the Jumbo Foodmarket with her children is less convinced of Van Eerd’s innocence: “Some people have a double agenda, that’s always possible, of course, but I don’t know him personally.” If it turns out that Frits is involved in money laundering practices, she will exchange the Jumbo for another store: “I don’t want to be involved in those kinds of practices, but as long as nothing has been proven yet, I will not form an opinion about it.”
Many residents of Veghel are proud of the supermarket giant and the van Eerd family: “I am proud of what they have achieved”, says a man. He continues to support Van Eerd through thick and thin: “Nothing has been proven yet, so what are we actually talking about. As a person and as the leader of this concern, I have every confidence in Frits van Eerd, this is ending with a sizzle “.
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