Former Uiryeong County head apprehended after four years on the run
Han Woo-sang, sentenced to prison for fraud in 2022, was tracked down through medical records and arrested near a clinic in Gimhae.
An illustration shows a person wearing handcuffs.
YONHAP
A former head of Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang, who was found guilty of fraud was apprehended and imprisoned after evading authorities for four years.
Han Woo-sang was captured on June 16 and started serving his sentence, according to the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday. The office disclosed the case as part of a report on major cases of property penalty and prison-sentence enforcement from the first half of the year.
Han was indicted on fraud charges for borrowing around 450 million won ($302,000) on several occasions between November 2016 and June 2018 from a person he had met through an acquaintance, failing to repay the money.
He remained free without detention throughout his trial and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by the court in August 2021. An appeal was later dismissed, and the sentence was upheld in September 2022, but he fled before the ruling took effect and stayed in hiding for roughly four years.
Han did not use a mobile phone, but prosecutors tracked other records, including his medical care benefits, and found he had visited a traditional Korean medicine clinic in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang. They staked out the area and apprehended him there.
Prosecutors also took custody of others who had fled. The Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office's dedicated fugitive task force captured 51 people during the first half of the year who had fled despite having finalized prison sentences.
The office also collected around 1.3 billion won in fines across 354 cases and approximately 260 million won in forfeiture payments across four cases.
“The execution of sentences completes criminal justice following investigation and prosecution,” prosecutors said.
“This case, in which enforcement was carried out swiftly amid concerns over asset concealment and flight overseas, shows why prosecutorial expertise in sentence enforcement is needed,” prosecutors added, referring to Han's case.
BY PARK JONG-SUH [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
