Van Eerd Convicted in Fraud Investigation

Former Racing Team Nederland owner/driver Frits van Eerd has been convicted to a two-year jail sentence for money laundering, forgery of documents and nonadministrative corruption.

The conviction, which was handed out Thursday by a Dutch court, came as part of a large-scale fraud investigation that saw Van Eerd arrested in September 2022 during a search and seizure of documents at his home.

At the time, Van Eerd 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, although he stepped down from his CEO position in March of 2023.

His team, with which Van Eerd competed in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship 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.

A large part of the investigation centered around co-defendant Theo E. [under Dutch law, last names of defendants are kept confidential], with authorities uncovering large sums of cash found in Van Eerd’s possession during the 2022 search, which he had received from E.

The court ruled that Van Eerd had knowledge that the cash came from criminal activities. Lawyer-submitted statements from friends and family regarding the origin of the money were found to be implausible and unverifiable, with the statements that could be verified determined to be false in most cases.

Van Eerd’s own explanation, that the money was linked to his racing hobbies, was also rejected as implausible by the prosecution. The Dutchman is understood to own a large collection of racing cars, including historic Formula 1 machinery.

Robbert Jonk, Van Eerd’s attorney, told Dutch media that it is “highly likely” that an appeal to the judge’s decision will be sought, adding: “We are surprised. All of Van Eerd’s statements are being dismissed.” Van Eerd may await the appeal in freedom.