English Idiom: Cook the books
If you have been following Japanese politics recently, the Moritomo Gakuen scandal is a perfect example of the idiom cook the books.
The head of the Japanese Land Ministry appeared in the diet to give testimony about the scandal.
After giving his evidence, the official records, which the ministry keeps, were altered to match the misinformation that he gave. Imagine that, first he lied, then they doctored the documents.
In other words, they cooked the books.
The phrase cook the books means to change facts or figures dishonestly or illegally.
That’s what the ministry did. It took an official document, doctored it and then had the guts to present the altered text to the lawmakers as the ‘official’ document.
Unfortunately for them, they are not very good at being dishonest, and the truth has come to light.
In almost all situations where someone cooks the books, the truth does become known eventually.
It wasn’t too long ago that a small group of investigative reporters revealed the Panama Papers scandal.
Many companies and wealthy individuals had been hiding money in Panama and other places by cooking the books or altering their financial records.
The truth always becomes known eventually, even when you try to cook the books.