Learn English – skimming off the top

meaning-in-contextmetaphors

From the Godfather:

Michael: Is my credit good enough to buy you out?

Moe: Buy me out…

Michael: The casino, the hotel. Corleone family wants to buy me out.

Moe: No, I buy you out, you don't buy me out.

Michael: Your casino loses money. Maybe we can do better.

Moe: Do you think I'm skimming off the top, Mike?

I searched for skim off, but didn't find anything. So what could it mean in that context?

Best Answer

Skimming (or skimming off the top) is a type of fraud. From Wikipedia:

A form of white-collar crime, skimming is slang for taking cash "off the top" of the daily receipts of a business (or from any cash transaction involving a third interested party) and officially reporting a lower total.

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