Prosecutors Crack Down on Defendants Missing Trials for Two Months... 30 Arrested Including Those with Bail Revoked

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution has achieved success in the focused arrest of defendants who deliberately evade court appearances and flee, apprehending 30 individuals including those whose bail was revoked.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Absentee Defendant Arrest Team (led by Chief Prosecutor Choi Dae-geon of the 4th Trial Division) announced on the 26th that from August 29 to the 14th of this month, they conducted intensive arrest operations targeting absentee defendants and apprehended a total of 30 defendants.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office formed the arrest team with three prosecutors and six investigators, carried out focused arrest activities, executed arrest warrants for 29 individuals, and re-detained one defendant whose bail had been revoked.

The prosecution stated that despite many cases where defendants indicted without detention deliberately failed to appear in court resulting in arrest warrants being issued, or failed to appear after being granted bail leading to bail revocation, no arrest activities beyond wanted notices had been conducted, causing undue delays in trials and gaps in criminal law enforcement. This was the reason for the focused arrest operations.

According to the prosecution, among the defendants arrested this time were 11 individuals who delayed trials for over a year, including an embezzlement offender who failed to appear on the sentencing date and stalled the trial for 12 years, causing damages amounting to 1.5 billion KRW.

In the case of a fraud offender who continuously failed to appear in court and stalled the trial for 10 months, the prosecution apprehended and detained him, after which the victim's losses were compensated and damages restored.

There were also many cases where arrests were made through real-time tracking.

The prosecution analyzed call records of a forgery offender who fled for 13 years after failing to appear on the sentencing date, tracked his movements, and searched closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to arrest him at a subway station.

Defendants hiding in places such as hotels and goshiwons, a military service evasion offender receiving massages, and a public official obstruction offender staying at Incheon Airport were also located through real-time tracking after the issuance of communication data warrants.

The prosecution confirmed a violent offender who had not appeared since the first trial date by checking game hall advertisements he posted on his social networking service (SNS), then visited the game hall he operated and arrested him.

Additionally, the prosecution swiftly apprehended a defendant who had been released on bail after being detained for embezzling 2.6 billion KRW but fled before the sentencing date (August 18), leading to bail revocation. He was sentenced to five years in prison on the 27th of last month.

Ji Mo, known as whistleblower X in the 'Channel A case,' was issued an arrest warrant on the 26th of last month for failing to appear in a defamation trial. The prosecution confirmed that he had left the country a few days before the warrant was issued and immediately requested notification upon his return. Ji was arrested on the 7th after entering through Incheon Airport.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.