Van Eerd Charged in Fraud Investigation

Former Racing Team Nederland owner/driver Frits van Eerd has been charged with nonadministrative corruption and forgery of documents in a large-scale fraud investigation by Dutch authorities, the country’s public prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.

Van Eerd, who competed in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship during his tenure in the sport, was arrested in September 2022 during a search and seizure of documents at his home.

The Dutchman was part of a group of nine suspects that had been taken into custody with the investigation focusing on laundered money and goods through real estate transactions, car trading, unexplained cash deposits and sponsorship contracts in motocross.

Neither supermarket chain Jumbo, of which Van Eerd was the CEO, nor the Racing Team Nederland team were understood to be part of the investigation.

However, Van Eerd stepped down from his position in March 2023, while the team has been absent from sports car racing since its withdrawal from the 2022 Motul Petit Le Mans event in the wake of Van Eerd’s arrest.

The Dutch public prosecutors office confirmed in a statement issued on Tuesday that Van Eerd will be prosecuted for nonadministrative corruption and forgery of documents.

Under Dutch law, the term ‘nonadministrative corruption’ is used as a legal term for bribery.

Additional money laundering charges could also brought be against the 57-year-old Dutchman, although authorities stated that the investigation into those charges has not yet been completed.

The first preliminary hearing in the case against Van Eerd, as well as the 59-year-old main suspect in the investigation, is scheduled for September.