ill-gotten gains

Idioms  

1. 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]

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Example Sentences

Every year, thousands of undercover North Korean workers and cyber thieves generate hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains for Pyongyang from places such as Russia, China and Africa, U.S. law-enforcement officials and cybersecurity analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal

Nowhere does Holmes offer the slightest expression of guilt or remorse for her considerable ill-gotten gains.

From Los Angeles Times

The days when dictators could live in gilded exile with fortunes in secret Swiss bank accounts are mostly over, primarily because of global mechanisms for adjudicating human-rights abuses and tracking ill-gotten gains.

From The Wall Street Journal

Such ill-gotten gains should not survive a brush with the Constitution.

From Slate

The alleged misrepresentation about how she would use the property saved money on her mortgage rate, the indictment says, and over the life of the loan James reaped nearly $19,000 in what were described as ill-gotten gains.

From The Wall Street Journal