rake off

5名のベトナム人が，就労目的のほかのベトナム人約40名を不法に入国させた容疑で逮捕されました。容疑者は「入国料」として、1人あたり約250万~400万円を報酬としてもらい、総額は1億円を超えていたようです。

5 Vietnamese nationals arrested for human smuggling

Five Vietnamese nationals have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling other Vietnamese people into Japan to have them work as they raked off much of their wages, investigative sources said.

The five are suspected of taking advantage of a system under which those confirmed to be relatives of foreign nationals with permanent resident status in Japan can acquire resident status in the country to smuggle about 40 Vietnamese nationals into Japan. The group then allegedly had them work at construction sites and restaurants among other places.

A joint investigation task force of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and Chiba Prefectural Police is probing the allegations that the ring collected approximately 2.5 to 4 million yen from each of the illegal immigrants as "immigration fees," netting over 100 million yen in total.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150217p2a00m0na010000c.html

今回取り上げるのは、”rake off”という表現です。Websterで調べてみると、”to gain rapidly or in abundance”とあり、「多量の分け前，利益をむしりとる」ということが分かります。また、『ジーニアス英和辞典　第4版、大修館書店』でも調べてみると、「〈人から〉だまして金をまきあげる」や「〜に高額の金をふっかける」という意味も載っていました。おなじみのrake inとともに押さえておきたいと思います。(ninetails)