Former Jumbo CEO repeats in court: 'Not bribed at all'

Van Eerd was arrested in September 2022 in an investigation into money laundering. He will appear in court in Groningen in the coming days, together with main suspect Theo E.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects the duo of having laundered criminal money through sponsorship contracts between Jumbo and E.'s motorsport teams. E. is said to have bribed Van Eerd. Tomorrow, the OM will present the sentence demanded against the suspects and the explanation thereof.

Van Eerd has always denied it, although he has mostly remained silent in public. Shortly after his arrest, he stepped down as CEO of supermarket chain Jumbo.

Around 450,000 euros in cash was found in Van Eerd's home and workshop, in hard-to-use notes of 200 and 500 euros, among others. The leader of the Brabant family business hid the money in various places, including in a refrigerator and a bookcase.

"If I had known that I would have to explain in court why I had put money in a refrigerator, I would not have done so of course. I don't have a good explanation for it, it was to spread it a bit. It is absolutely not criminal money, really legal," said Van Eerd.

E. also denied having bribed Van Eerd at the start of the trial. "I think Van Eerd cannot be bribed."

During the hearing in Groningen, the court questioned the suspects about a whole series of statements from wiretapped conversations and interrogations and suspicious transactions. These give the impression that there would be a relationship between Jumbo's generous sponsorship of motocross teams and riders and payments and deliveries to Van Eerd.

Suspects E. and Van Eerd remained unable to answer some questions, or were vague, but continued to emphasise that there was no connection between the sponsorship and deliveries.

When asked by the court why Van Eerd had re-established personal ties with the former motocross rider after Jumbo had broken off business contacts with E. in 2014, he sighed: "In hindsight, I should never have done that."

In 2014, the supermarket group, in a letter signed by Van Eerd himself, broke all sponsorship contracts and ties with E. - after he was suspected of involvement in drug money laundering in another criminal case.

Van Eerd stated in court that he subsequently contacted E. again in a personal capacity, partly because he was curious about his side of the case.

"I had known him for ten years, we talked a lot about motorsport. Then he was arrested in the Arville case and I was in danger of being sucked into it. I was burning with curiosity to hear how it could have come to this."

Van Eerd also acknowledged having a personal interest. "For me as CEO of Jumbo, that case was quite explosive, because I was initially a suspect in it. E. knew that, so I wanted to keep him close in the hope that the information would not get out. Moreover, E. offered a lot of stuff that I was interested in." Van Eerd is an avid collector of cars, motorcycles and related items.

Van Eerd said he did not know that E. sometimes pocketed part of the sponsorship money that Jumbo paid to other racing teams. For example, the court presented him with a transaction in which Jumbo paid 405,000 euros including VAT to the Hutten Metaal racing team, of which only 115,000 euros ultimately remained with the racing team.

"I never knew about that. For me it was important that a team would win. I wanted to load the Jumbo brand with winners. That's why I mainly looked at the performances of the teams we sponsored."

See in the video below what happened before the lawsuit against former Jumbo CEO Van Eerd: