If something bad that you have done or that has been happening to you catches up with you, it begins to cause problems for you.

His lies will catch up with him one day. 他总有一天会尝到撒谎的苦头。

If people in authority catch up with you, they discover that you have been doing something wrong and often punish you for it.

They had been selling stolen cars for years before the police caught up with them. 在被警方抓住之前，他们多年来一直从事贩卖赃车的勾当。