Defendants who deliberately did not appear at the trial and went into hiding have been caught by the prosecution in recent days.

The Incheon District Prosecutor's Office said it had arrested 2 defendants who failed to appear in court for three months starting in February.

Most of these are defendants who deliberately fail to appear in court while being tried without custody or who have gone into hiding in anticipation of being sentenced to prison.

A man in his 3s accused of stealing 30 million won went into hiding for two years, but was caught after prosecution investigators who confirmed his history of frequent sports Toto went undercover near the lottery room.

A man in his 2s who committed a sexually violent crime was also arrested after failing to appear in court for three years after being charged.

Prosecutors analyzed the man's call history to identify the restaurant where he ordered the delivery food, and then found out the address of the restaurant and arrested him.

In addition, another defendant, who embezzled 30 million won from an apartment management office and did not show up for the sentencing hearing in anticipation of a prison sentence, was also recently caught by prosecutors who were trying to track down his location.

On February 2, the Incheon District Prosecutor's Office set up a "team to arrest non-appearing defendants" consisting of one trial prosecutor and four investigators.

Later, after receiving a request to appear in court, they deliberately made a list of defendants who did not appear in court for a long period of time, and then proceeded to arrest them.

A prosecution official said, "Some of the arrested defendants were defrauded and on the run for two years, and when they were caught, they agreed with the victims through their fathers," and "We will continue to actively arrest long-term fugitive defendants in order to recover damages."

(Photo = Courtesy of Yonhap News TV, Yonhap News)