Investigators found hundreds of thousands of euros in cash at Jumbo CEO's home
Investigators from the financial crimes inspectorate FIOD discovered large amounts of cash when they raided Frits van Eerd's home in Heeswijk-Dinther. Authorities descended on the home of the Jumbo CEO, and multiple other locations across the Netherlands, as part of an extensive investigation into money laundering, suspicious real estate transactions, VAT fraud involving the automotive trade, unexplained cash deposits, and motocross sponsorship deals.
Hundreds of thousands of euros were found in cash at Van Eerd's home, sources close to the investigation told FD. It was already known that millions of euros were seized as part of the case, however the Public Prosecution Service (OM) has remained tightlipped on the specifics about the location of the cash.
The case was not limited to Van Eerd's home. Raids were conducted in the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen, and Noord-Brabant on 13 September. The cash was seized, along with vehicles and property. Nine people were arrested in total during the searches. Van Eerd temporarily stepped down from his role as CEO of the supermarket chain because of the investigation.
Van Eerd's legal team refused to comment on questions from FD. Thus far, it is not clear why he would have kept the cash in his home. His attorney did not say if Van Eerd told authorities how he obtained the cash during interrogation, the newspaper said. The OM also did not comment.
Van Eerd is not the primary focus of the investigation, but former motocross athlete Theo E. is. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after he was twice convicted of money laundering in 2008, FD reported. One of his companies reportedly provided vehicles to crime figures in Amsterdam, and was linked to a key witness, Fred Ros, who was linked to case involving alleged crime boss Willem Holleeder.
Theo E., a 58-year-old from Gasteren, managed his own motocross team, and was once the team leader for the Jumbo TvE MX team. As a company, Jumbo already had issues with him dating back to 2014 and refused to back him with over 60,000 euros in sponsorship funding once his past came to light. However, Van Eerd continued to work with him, FD said, which included the purchase of a Hummer and trailer, and using E. as a go-between to work with motocross riders and sponsorship deals.
Jumbo previously stated emphatically that the company was not a target in the investigation. Its supervisory board selected KPMG to independently investigate the supermarket chain's motorsports contracts. The company's law firm said an internal investigation cleared Jumbo of any criminality, FD reported.
