Arnhem-Leeuwarden appeal court tells prosecutors to add documents to Van Eerd file

The court of appeal (gerechtshof) in Arnhem-Leeuwarden ruled on Wednesday that extra documents must be added to the case file and witnesses heard in the appeal of Frits van Eerd, the former boss of supermarket chain Jumbo. The court will hear three witnesses at the request of the defence.

The Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) must add a number of documents to the case file within three months. The court has not yet made a final decision on a fourth witness, as it first needs more information. The court will also hear car dealer E., seen as the main suspect in the investigation known as 'Hille', on its own initiative in the cases against Van Eerd and co-suspect H.

Last year the district court convicted Van Eerd of bribery, money laundering and forgery (valsheid in geschrifte) and sentenced him to two years in prison. It found that he received money, goods and services from co-suspects over several years. Van Eerd denies any criminal conduct and appealed straight away. He and his lawyers say the case concerns relationships and favours between acquaintances, not bribery, and they dispute the money laundering charge.

At a procedural hearing last month, the defence argued that important documents were missing from the case file. Its lawyers said not all documents gathered during the investigation had been included. They also asked for more witnesses and for a closer look at where certain information in the investigation came from. The court granted some of those requests.

Documents must also be added and witnesses heard in the cases against main suspect E. and co-suspect H.

The court also gave a final ruling on Wednesday in the separate case against co-suspect T., a mortgage broker. It convicted T. of forgery and fined T. €5,000. The district court had earlier given T. sixty hours of community service, part of it suspended.