After serving a few years he was released, and was involved in a money laundering scheme. His offending escalated until he was participating in armed robberies of security vans that occurred so  frequently that they led to greatly increased security. He left the country for a time, but on  14 January 1989 he was one of those who kidnapped former Belgian prime minister Paul Vanden Boeynants, releasing Vanden Boeynants on  13 February 1989 for a reportedly huge ransom.
After serving some time in prison, the individual engaged in money laundering and escalated his criminal activities to include armed robberies of security vans. These robberies became so frequent that they prompted increased security measures. He later fled the country but on January 14, 1989, he participated in the kidnapping of former Belgian Prime Minister Paul Vanden Boeynants.  He released Vanden Boeynants on February 13, 1989 for a large sum of money.