Is there an English equivalent of the Hindi saying “sau chuhe maar billi haj ko chali”? (After killing/eating 100 mice, the cat goes on a pilgrimage)
Solution 1:
John Ray, A Collection of English Proverbs (1678) offers an English saying that expresses the gist of the Hindi proverb you relate:
Steal the goose, and give the giblets in alms.
The underlying notion here is that a thief may take a thing of relatively great value for himself and then donate a pittance from his ill-gotten gains to the poor as proof of his charity or magnanimity. More broadly, the proverb criticizes individuals who take what isn't rightfully theirs, give a mite of it back, and then claim to be people of great philanthropy or piety.
Although I have never heard a person in real life repeat this proverb, it has appeared in many collections of English proverbs over the centuries, including The Macmillan Book of Proverbs, Maxims, and Famous Phrases (1948). Evidently, a saying from Spain uses a pig instead of a goose to make the same point. Henry Spence-Jones, The Pulpit Commentary, volume 4 (a nineteenth-century text), after repeating the goose-and-giblets proverb, mentions this Spanish alternative:
"Huerto el puerco, y darlos pies por Dios," "Steal the pig, and give away the pettitoes [trotters] for God's sake."
Solution 2:
One venerable idiom for agents of such hypocrisy is 'whited sepulchres' (a variant spelling is 'sepulchers'), also less commonly known as 'dyed pharisees':
whit·ed sepulcher (wī′tĭd, hwī′-) n.
An evil person who pretends to be holy or good; a hypocrite.[From the simile applied by Jesus to hypocrites as exemplified by some scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:27).]
[American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. S.v. "whited sepulcher." Retrieved March 15 2016 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/whited+sepulcher ]
For your examples,
- The criminal conglomerate's attempt to 'whitewash' (another idiom) its crimes with monetary donations marks it as a 'whited sepulcher'.
- Jimmy Swaggart might be accurately described as a 'whited sepulcher'.
In Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), the 'whited sepulchre' is listed as number 10 of the 'Pharisees', defined as
“separatists” (Heb. parash, to separate), men who looked upon themselves as holier than other men, and therefore refused to hold social intercourse with them. The Talmud mentions the following classes:—
(1) The “Dashers,” or “Bandy-legged” (Nikfi), who scarcely lifted their feet from the ground in walking, but “dashed them against the stones,” that people might think them absorbed in holy thought (Matt. xxi. 44).
(2) The “Mortars,” who wore a “mortier,” or cap, which would not allow them to see the passers-by, that their meditations might not be disturbed. “Having eyes, they saw not” (Mark viii. 18).
(3) The “Bleeders,” who inserted thorns in the borders of their gaberdines to prick their legs in walking.
(4) The “Cryers,” or “Inquirers,” who went about crying out, “Let me know my duty, and I will do it” (Matt. xix. 16–22).
(5) The “Almsgivers,” who had a trumpet sounded before them to summon the poor together (Matt. vi. 2).
(6) The “Stumblers,” or “Bloody-browed” (Kizai), who shut their eyes when they went abroad that they might see no women, being “blind leaders of the blind” (Matt. xv. 14). Our Lord calls them “blind Pharisees,” “fools and blind.”
(7) The “Immovables,” who stood like statues for hours together, “praying in the market places” (Matt. vi. 5).
(8) The “Pestle Pharisees” (Medinkia), who kept themselves bent double like the handle of a pestle.
(9) The “Strong-shouldered” (Shikmi), who walked with their back bent as if carrying on their shoulders the whole burden of the law.
(10) The “Dyed Pharisees,” called by our Lord “Whited Sepulchres,” whose externals of devotion cloaked hypocrisy and moral uncleanness.(Talmud of Jerusalem, Berakoth, ix; Sota, v. 7: Talmud of Babylon, Sota, 22 b.)