It reads like a movie screenplay. An unassuming commercial lawyer turns out to have a secret identity as a money launderer for druglords.

This was the life of Mr Kenneth Rijock in the 1980s. Decked out in smart suits, he acted like any other lawyer in an international law firm in Miami.

But while he was a lawyer by day, he was actually a money launderer by night. According to The Straits Times, he would head over to the Carribean island of St. Martin - dressed like a typical American tourist in loud Hawaiian prints. But instead of bringing a book to read on the beach, he brought thousands of dollars in cash earmarked for drug lords in the region.

That was then; this is now. The 59-year-old Vietnam War veteran is now a sought-after consultant on financial crime.

He spoke before 320 delegates as the keynote speaker at the annual Financial Crimes Seminar last Thursday.

He also briefed high government Singaporean officials, focusing on money-laundering trends and emerging threats in Asia. In Singapore, measures taken to combat money laundering include regulations by the Monetary Authority of Singapore requiring banks to determine who actually controls the assets in an account, and not just relying on the name in an application form.

The Consortium for Countering the Financing of Terrorism, a joint effort by the Home Affairs Ministry, the ABS and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies also came into effect earlier this year.

In a Straits Times report, Mr Rijock said, 'Money launderers hide right in the middle of legitimate business transactions, using international trade to disguise huge transactions.'

Mr Rijock also warned that 'imaginative people's' attempts to launder money are not confined to financial institutions. These attempts can also occur through seemingly legitimate businesses.

As an example, he described an imaginary Southeast Asia drug figure with millions of dollars in drug profits that needs to be sent to his boss in Colombia.

'He could set up a small import-export firm in Singapore, then set up a bogus factory in a country near where he wants to send the money, like Venezuela.'

He added that money launderers can opt to ship high tech items at highly variable prices.

The cash could then be laundered under the cover of trading chips, which 'get shipped right under the eyes of bankers.'

These were some of the techniques that he used when he laundered drug money in the 1980's.

Mr. Rijock now uses that knowledge to help his clients manoeuvre the dark world of fraudsters, terrorist financiers and money launderers. He is currently working at World Check, a British firm that keeps a database of high-risk individuals and businesses.

A former drug user, he claims he was drawn into the world of money laundering because of his opposition to drug laws, which he saw as an intrusion to a person's constitutional right to privacy.

He tells The Straits Times: 'Of course, I don't think that any more.'

One thing is for sure: the former money launderer now thinks that fighting financial crime is a serious business.