SINGAPORE - A former convict, who lost his job as a Grab driver, agreed to let others use his name to register companies in exchange for cash.

But Ang Cheng Guan, 47, got embroiled in a crime syndicate that scammed statutory board SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) of around $39.9 million through fraudulent claims to a scheme that subsidises skills training courses for employees of business entities.

He was convicted on Friday (Oct 4) after pleading guilty to six money laundering charges and another two of breaching a director's duty. Another 20 related charges will be taken into account during sentencing.

The syndicate used nine shell companies to submit more than 8,000 fraudulent claims to SSG between April and October 2017.

On Friday, the court heard that Ang was introduced to a Sim Soon Lee, 43, by a mutual friend some time in July 2017.

Sim told Ang that he could not register a company as he was a bankrupt, and asked to borrow Ang's name to register companies, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordan Li.

"The accused agreed to Sim's request despite suspecting that Sim was going to use the companies to carry out illegal activities," said DPP Li.

A few days after their meeting, Ang signed some documents without reading them. He then became the director and shareholder of several companies, a partner in a limited liability partnership and business owner of several sole-proprietorships.

These entities were used by the syndicate to submit the fraudulent applications to the SSG.

Ang also opened two bank accounts on Sim's instructions, and Sim would instruct him to encash cheques into the two accounts. For each trip to the bank, Ang was paid $3,000 to $5,000.

While Ang did not know the source of income for the companies he "owned", he had suspected that the monies were obtained from "illegal means" since the day Sim approached him for his name, said DPP Li.

"Despite this, the accused continued to help Sim launder the criminal proceeds as he needed the money," said DPP Li.

Ang left Singapore on Sept 26 that year for China. Some time later, his wife told him that the Singapore authorities were looking for him, and Ang decided to stay in China. He was deported to Singapore on Oct 7 last year and arrested on the same day.

In mitigation, defence counsel Too Xing Ji said Ang had a low level of culpability, as he was only following instructions from Sim and did not know about the nature of the transactions .

Ang, who was in jail previously for drug offences, had lost his job as a Grab driver and turned to his friends "out of desperation" as he had difficulties finding another job, said Mr Too.

However, the prosecution sought a jail sentence of at least 8½ years and a five-year disqualification order as a director, citing factors such as the "staggering sums" involved.

Ang will be sentenced on Oct 18.

Sim's case will be dealt with in court at a later date.