卷款潜逃
juǎn kuǎn qián táo
to abscond with the money
Character by character
卷juǎn
roll up
roll up
款kuǎn
funds
funds
潜qián
secretly
secretly
逃táo
flee
flee
Example
那家装修公司收了几十户人家的定金，老板却卷款潜逃了。
The renovation firm took deposits from dozens of households, and then its boss absconded with the money.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
A set phrase of crime news and court reports for someone who vanishes with money entrusted to them: a boss, a treasurer, an agent. 潜逃 alone means to flee from justice; 携款潜逃 means the same, and in speech people say 卷钱跑了 or just 跑路.
Learn this in Lesson 188 · HSK 7–9: P2P的兴衰 (The rise and fall of P2P lending)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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