leave someone holding the bag

Etymology
Originated in 18th-century Britain, referring to a person left holding stolen goods while the rest of a criminal gang escapes.

Verb

 * 1)  To abandon somebody, leaving him or her holding the responsibility or blame.
 * After the accident, he just vanished and left me holding the bag.
 * 1)  To remove the value from an article or arrangement and leave somebody holding the empty (or valueless) container.

Translations

 * Finnish: jättää ottamaan syyt niskoilleen
 * French: faire porter le chapeau (lit., "wearing the hat")
 * Galician: botar a culpa (lit., "blame the fault"), botar as culpas (lit., "blame the faults")
 * Italian: lasciare col cerino in mano
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese: pagar as favas (lit., "pay for the beans")
 * Russian: пове́сить всех собак (lit:hang all the dogs (on somebody)), свалить вину (lit: to drop the blame (on someone))
 * Spanish: echar el muerto