Idioms

crime doesn't pay

crime doesn't pay

proverb Ultimately, crime does not benefit the criminal, and only results in negative consequences. The billboards are designed as reminders that even minor fraud convictions carry serious consequences—crime doesn't pay. After I was convicted, I lost 10 years of my life in prison. Trust me, crime doesn't pay. A: "Why would I shoplift?" B: "For the rush, man!" A: "Yeah, that's not a good enough reason. Crime doesn't pay."
See also: crime, pay
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

Crime doesn't pay.

Prov. Crime will ultimately not benefit a person. No matter how tempting it may appear, crime doesn't pay.
See also: crime, pay
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

crime does not pay

Lawbreakers do not benefit from their actions. For example, Steve didn't think it mattered that he stole a candy bar, but he's learned the hard way that crime does not pay . This maxim, originating as a slogan of the F.B.I. and given wide currency by the cartoon character Dick Tracy, was first recorded in 1927. There have been numerous jocular plays on it, as in Woody Allen's screenplay for Take the Money and Run (1969): "I think crime pays. The hours are good, you travel a lot."
See also: crime, does, not, pay
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
This has now seen a substantial amount of money identified for seizure and proves that crime doesn't pay. A jail term does not mean the end of our enquiries."
More than PS280,000 to be seized from city drugs gang who led the high life
Summary: Whoever said crime doesn't pay failed to mention that the exception is when you have the Trump administration in your corner.
The pillage of Palestine
Confiscating the ill-gotten gains of fraudsters, drug dealers and money launderers plays a vital role in proving crime doesn't pay.
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We will use all legislation available to us to recover money and assets obtained by criminals to ensure that crime doesn't pay."
PS700K SEIZED FROM SHAMED CHURCH MAN; Financial adviser conned clients
A LEADER of the Hatton Garden heist said crime doesn't pay as he was given an extra three years in jail for another jewellery raid.
Hatton thief on extra jail: crime is bad
Who says crime doesn't pay? In this instance - not to mention many more - it certainly has.
Life's too easy for criminals
A huge total of PS17,026,411 has been stripped from drug dealers and fraudsters across the region over the last five years in a bid to show offenders that 'crime doesn't pay.' From April 2012, financial investigators working in the Economic Crime Unit have been recovering cash obtained from criminal activities under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Police seize PS17m from criminals in just 5 years
The huge sum was stripped from drug dealers and fraudsters across the region over the past five years in a bid to prove "crime doesn't pay".
Fraudsters and drug dealers lose PS17m of their ill-gotten gains; 'Crime doesn't pay' ASWEST Midland offenders targeted
"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..
Ffion Tomos, prosecuting, said, "Messages suggested she was making as much as PS1,000 a week and she boasted in one message about this and added 'Who says crime doesn't pay?'".
Drugs dealer weeps as she is jailed
Crime doesn't pay, and in "A Kind of Murder," neither does fantasizing about it.
A Kind of Murder
When your life has been touched in any way by crime you want to know that crime doesn't pay, ever.
The Gazette; WE SAY
It begins with A Robber's Tale, focusing on Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans), who seems to be on a mission to disprove the old saying that crime doesn't pay.
best crime drama
"Nice people already realise crime doesn't pay and when other people are painting graffiti you are creating crime and it's not having the desired effect."
Vandals' brush with the law
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