[pcf]

Not sure what you referred to directly, but GPT-4o gives me these two similar quotes:

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." - Tacitus (Roman historian)

"Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime." - Lavrentiy Beria (head of Stalin's secret police)

[stavros]

Ah yeah, the general sentiment was definitely "there are laws that everyone breaks every day, so they can always get you on something". Mostly because I remembered the anecdote about the USSR outlawing fax machines that no business could do without, so they could always charge any business with a crime.