A pensioner accused of benefit fraud flew to his Greek holiday home just weeks after being bailed to appear at a Crown court to face the charges.
William Gething-Lewis hopped on a jet in early 2018 - and has never returned to the UK.
The 72-year-old from Pembrokeshire finally appeared at Swansea Crown Court this week - albeit via videolink from his Greek retreat.
A judge told him he should never had left the country when he knew he was facing serious charges, and said it made the courts wonder whether he had "sought to avoid responsibility" for what he had done.
The court heard that between 2008 and 2013 the defendant pocketed £53,135 in pension credits and £1,509 in council tax relief he was not entitled to after failing to notify the authorities about an inheritance of a substantial number of shares in a Cheshire-based property development company from his late mother.
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On January 22, 2018, the defendant appeared before justices in and the case was committed to Swansea Crown Court - but shortly afterwards Gething-Lewis flew to his holiday home on the Greek island of Skiathos.
While in Greece the defendant's health deteriorated to the point where he was unable to fly back to Wales.
The case resulted in no fewer that 18 hearings at Swansea Crown Court as the court and the defendant - who for a long period choose not to have legal representation - tried to resolve the matter. During the course of the proceedings two arrest warrants were issued and later withdrawn. At one stage the defendant emailed the court to accept some culpability but denied he had acted dishonesty, essentially claiming his actions had been negligent.
Gething-Lewis was convicted in his absence of failing to notify change of circumstances affecting entitlement to benefit at a trial in November last year.
The court heard the defendant has so far repaid £13,221 and the prosecution was seeking a confiscation order for £47,366 - the outstanding balance plus an "uplift" to take into account the length of time involved.
Gething-Lewis, formerly of Llanteg, Pembrokeshire but whose address is now a PO Box number in Skiathos, Greece, appeared via videolink from his holiday home on Monday to be sentenced.
He has no previous convictions.
David Singh, for Gething-Lewis, said the firm the defendant held the shares in - a private limited company based in Cheshire - had agreed to buy around £50,000 worth of its shares from him.
The barrister said it was "unlikely" that the defendant would be returning to the UK in the foreseeable future.
Judge Geraint Walters said the public were concerned about people - especially people of some means - "fleecing the State" by claiming benefits to which they were not entitled.
He said the offences Gething-Lewis had been convicted of carried a three-month maximum prison sentence but that for a man with no previous convictions neither an immediate nor suspended sentence was appropriate, and given the defendant was not in court's jurisdiction a community order would not be possible.
Gething-Lewis was fined £500 for each offence, and was ordered to pay £2,000 towards costs.
The judge made a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation order for £47,336.
