Au Gan Chye, 54, pleaded guilty in March to abducting the trio and forcing the woman to drive to POSB branch in Hougang to withdraw $50,000.

The court heard then that he had played a supporting role to his accomplice, Neo Soon Joo, 37, who had broached the idea of a robbery and asked Au for his help to pull off the job.

Neo did most of the work, telling Au that he had been scouting for targets in Braddell Heights and instructing him to take along gloves, hats and masking tape for the robbery.

It was also Neo who did the car-jacking: pushing his way into the red BMW in the driveway of the woman's Chiltern Drive home, wielding the knife and threatening the hostages with their lives.

Au's role was to play the driver. Neo gave him $15,000 for his role before he helped him make off to Malaysia with the lion's share of the loot.

Neo is still at large.

The maximum sentence is 15 years' jail, a fine and caning.