And when I compare a couple of years in prison to my whole life the answer is clear for me. Escaping the country brings the bonus that he will never be able to see his own country again. As an expat who is away from home for the last 4 years I can easily say that it sucks. Being away from home doesn't make you free.
However, I don't agree with your second part. 4 years in prison isn't just 4 years in prison. It is 4 years in a situation that is widely out of your control, and opens you up to a host of threats that you didn't consider during your 'outside' life. Sure, you can be hit by a car and killed during normal pedestrian action, but it's quite hard to be the victim of prison violence when you're a normal citizen.
Imprisonment is terrible, don't sell it short. It is a completely different world than every day life, including that of an expat, and it very well may stay with him for the rest of life in the form of a crippling physical or mental injury or even death.
He runs a SaaS, not a hot-dog stand. The power of the internet is internationalism and non-locale.
But regarding the OP's question, he was not asking about how to keep his freedom, he was asking about how to save his business, which I believe as you do many here have failed to see.
Now, one has to ask themselves...how likely would it be for the OP to actually save his business by running away? The likelihood of him not having everything confiscated by the government and simply shut down upon his disappearance is rather low. As it sits right now he could loose it if he doesn't "give" it to another person to care for it.
Also, he most likely feels an obligation to his clients to maintain the service.
Taking the time to train a trusted friend or family member would most likely be his only real option in this case.
Good luck to OP!
O.
it seems like it depends on their your "home" is. I've been living in US for more than decade. Never looked back :)