Should Frits van Eerd go to jail? Former Jumbo CEO hears verdict in money laundering case

Frits van Eerd , 58, was CEO of the family business Jumbo from 2002 onwards. Under his leadership and through major acquisitions, the company grew to become the second-largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands. Jumbo now has over 700 stores, 100,000 employees, and a turnover of almost 11 billion euros. Besides his work for the family business, Van Eerd is a passionate car and motorcycle enthusiast, both as a racing driver and a collector.

In September 2022, the FIOD (Fiscal Information and Investigation Service) raided his home and workplace, after which Van Eerd was detained and interrogated for several days. The searches yielded nearly €450,000 in cash, including in a refrigerator. According to the Public Prosecution Service, Van Eerd accepted bribes, committed forgery, and pleaded guilty to money laundering of illegal origin. As a result of the case, he was forced to resign as CEO of Jumbo in 2022.

Van Eerd was found to have had close ties with Drenthe car dealer Theo E., the main suspect in the investigation and a well-known figure in the motocross world. Supermarket group Jumbo had previously sponsored E.'s racing team, but stopped doing so after the Drenthe man was prosecuted (and later convicted) in 2014 in a previous money laundering case. However, Van Eerd remained friends with the man. In hindsight, he shouldn't have done that, the former supermarket owner admitted during the trial.

No, but according to the Public Prosecution Service, the men also maintained business ties that were incriminating. For example, they allegedly bribed car dealer Van Eerd with gifts, partly to get Jumbo to sponsor teams and drivers. Officially, E. wasn't involved in these deals, but he allegedly pocketed some of the money under the table.

Because the sponsorship contracts were flawed, it was alleged to be forgery. And because, according to the Public Prosecution Service, Van Eerd could not convincingly prove that the hundreds of thousands of euros in cash found had a legal origin, he was also charged with money laundering. At the end of June, the Public Prosecution Service demanded a two-year prison sentence for Van Eerd, eight months of which were suspended.

Van Eerd believes he is innocent. He rejected a plea agreement that required him to confess and hand over the cash he found. At the end of June, he reaffirmed his innocence in court in Groningen and emphasized the impact the case has had on his life.

That's ultimately up to the court, which will deliver its verdict this afternoon. Parts of Van Eerd's statements seem to hold water. For example, he says the cash in his home and workplace was intended to settle private transactions and, in the event of an emergency, to pay off criminals who might want to harm his family.

He also points out that a few hundred thousand euros in cash isn't an excessive sum for him—as co-owner of the multi-billion dollar company Jumbo. He also emphasized that, as a wealthy entrepreneur, he had no need to misappropriate money or assets. He claims he wasn't aware that E. pocketed some of the sponsorship money.

Other parts of his statements were less convincing. For example, the Public Prosecution Service undermined the credibility of the statements regarding the origin of the cash, and Van Eerd was unable to adequately refute this.

Even if Van Eerd is fully acquitted, the chances of that happening are slim. His reputation has been damaged too much by the case. Even outside the realm of criminal law, there are things that raise eyebrows.

The question is why Van Eerd, as CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, didn't sever his personal ties with E. after 2014, and even continued to do business with him. This is, at the very least, an indication of poor judgment and inadequate evaluation of people. It's undeniable that he damaged not only his own image but also the family business's. This alone makes a return to Jumbo as CEO difficult.

Watch this video to see what preceded the verdict in the criminal case against Van Eerd: