ill-gotten gains

ill-gotten gains

Something, often money, that has been obtained through illegal or otherwise nefarious means. Her husband's in the mob, so I bet her jewelry's all ill-gotten gains.
See also: gain
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

ill-gotten gains

money or other possessions acquired in a dishonest or illegal fashion. Bill cheated at cards and is now living on his ill-gotten gains. Mary is enjoying her ill-gotten gains. She deceived an old lady into leaving her $5,000 in her will.
See also: gain
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

ill-gotten gains

Benefits obtained in an evil manner or by dishonest means, as in They duped their senile uncle into leaving them a fortune and are now enjoying their ill-gotten gains . [Mid-1800s]
See also: gain
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

ill-gotten gains

Ill-gotten gains are money or other valuable things that someone gets illegally or in a way that is not morally good. They needed to find a route out of the country for their ill-gotten gains. Many museums are returning their ill-gotten gains.
See also: gain
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
See also:
  • implicate
  • implicate (someone) in (something)
  • come by (something) honestly
  • come by honestly
  • a man who stands for nothing will fall for anything
  • go legit
  • legit
  • the goods on
  • the goods on (someone or something)
  • vice
References in periodicals archive
Paul Williams, Callum Brayton and Matt Burke, with some of their ill-gotten gains
'Millionaire' Huyton drug dealers who splashed cash on designer Moncler sandals and 'winged' stilettos ordered to pay back ill-gotten gains; Mark Burke and Callum Brayton made more than [pounds sterling]2m through their cross country drugs network
The Newcastle-based Rafael family, of Roma origin, spent their ill-gotten gains on gold and jewellery, casino trips, Mediterranean holidays and PS10,000 cash on an Audi Q7 after luring vulnerable people from central Europe and forcing them to work in the UK.
Court is told of traffickers' life of luxury; IN BRIEF
The arrest and prosecution of members has been a success but removing their ill-gotten gains is also a critical part of the war on evil.
Back gardai in war on gangs; COMMENT 2nd floor, 9A Beckett Way, Park West Industrial Park, Clondalkin, Dublin 12 Tel: 01 868 8600, Fax 01 868 8626, irishmirror.ie
MORE than PS17 million in ill-gotten gains has been seized from criminals by West Midlands Police.
Fraudsters and drug dealers lose PS17m of their ill-gotten gains; 'Crime doesn't pay' ASWEST Midland offenders targeted
A POLICE officer jailed for selling information to live a luxury lifestyle faces losing his ill-gotten gains.
Bid to grab PC's scam cash
"Drugs can cause misery within our communities and this case reinforces the message that crime doesn't pay; even after a conviction we will seek to claw back any ill-gotten gains."
A fool and his money..
Al-Adly and 12 others were condemned with ill-gotten gains that exceeded LE 2 billion (USD 110.334 million) over the period 2000-2011.
Egypt's ex-interior min. sentenced to 7 years in prison
This has dragged on for a year and still 26 of the honourable members have not handed back their ill-gotten gains. More than PS2million is still outstanding and that does not count the amount claimed wrongly we were never told about.
Pay your dues; Letters.
Meanwhile, Bob is so uncomfortable with accepting the ill-gotten gains, he decides it's time to come clean about the whole sorry mess, and makes a big confession to Brenda at the grand opening of Gennie's memorial playground.
EMMERDALE - ITV
"This ruling is good news because it takes ill-gotten gains out of the hands of companies who knew they were promoting a scam and gives them back to the consumers who lost millions of dollars," said Jessica Rich, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
Fake Online News Sites Used to Scam Consumers
So beware of false fronts on machines as usually people are lying in wait to recall your card and use it for their ill-gotten gains.
Cashpoint robbery; VIEWS
The settlement included $160 million in ill-gotten gains and a $90 million penalty, according to court papers.
Chubb, Other Insurers Must Face Suit over SEC, Bear Stearns Settlement Claims
The Supreme Court denied the motion, saying the SEC order "does not contain an explicit finding that Bear Stearns directly obtained ill-gotten gains or profited by facilitating these trading practices,' and thus does not establish that the disgorgement was excluded from coverage.
J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc. v. Vigilant Insurance Co
While criminals' ill-gotten gains were used to fund a record PS22.3 million in compensation to victims in the period, Justice Minister Helen Grant said the Government "recognises more must be done to tackle the outstanding debt".
PS1.8bn fines outstanding