"follow the money" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "Popularized in All the President's Men (1976).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "follows the money",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "following the money",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "followed the money",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "followed the money",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "follow the money (third-person singular simple present follows the money, present participle following the money, simple past and past participle followed the money)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
          "parents": [
            "Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Corruption",
          "orig": "en:Corruption",
          "parents": [
            "Crime",
            "Politics",
            "Criminal law",
            "Society",
            "Law",
            "All topics",
            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1976, William Goldman, All the President's Men, spoken by Deep Throat",
          "text": "No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just… follow the money.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 April 21, William Safire, “Follow the Money”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "Then follow the money: We know that President Bashar Assad turned an ophthalmologist's blind eye to Saddam's use of the Syrian port of Tartus to import missile fuel components from China and night-vision goggles from Russia.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 April 29, Aubrey A Jones, “Letters: beat fraud: follow the money”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "His success in tackling and convicting members of Cosa Nostra was by following the money; this is the only way leading members of organised crime syndicates will ever be convicted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To analyze money flows in order to uncover corruption or other criminal activities."
      ],
      "id": "en-follow_the_money-en-verb-sPRy2Oob",
      "links": [
        [
          "money",
          "money"
        ],
        [
          "corruption",
          "corruption"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "All the President's Men (film)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "follow the money"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Popularized in All the President's Men (1976).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "follows the money",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "following the money",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "followed the money",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "followed the money",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "follow the money (third-person singular simple present follows the money, present participle following the money, simple past and past participle followed the money)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "en:Corruption"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1976, William Goldman, All the President's Men, spoken by Deep Throat",
          "text": "No, I have to do this my way. You tell me what you know, and I'll confirm. I'll keep you in the right direction if I can, but that's all. Just… follow the money.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 April 21, William Safire, “Follow the Money”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "Then follow the money: We know that President Bashar Assad turned an ophthalmologist's blind eye to Saddam's use of the Syrian port of Tartus to import missile fuel components from China and night-vision goggles from Russia.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 April 29, Aubrey A Jones, “Letters: beat fraud: follow the money”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "His success in tackling and convicting members of Cosa Nostra was by following the money; this is the only way leading members of organised crime syndicates will ever be convicted.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To analyze money flows in order to uncover corruption or other criminal activities."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "money",
          "money"
        ],
        [
          "corruption",
          "corruption"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "All the President's Men (film)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "follow the money"
}