de ‧ fraud /dɪˈfrɔːd $ -ˈfrɒːd/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
to trick a person or organization in order to get money from them
defraud somebody of something
She defrauded her employers of thousands of pounds.
He faces charges of theft and conspiracy to defraud (=a secret plan to cheat someone, made by two or more people) .
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THESAURUS
■ to get money or possessions dishonestly from someone
▪ cheat to deceive someone so that they do not get or keep something they have a right to:
He used his charm to cheat the old lady out of everything he could get.
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He’s afraid they’ll cheat him after he hands over the money.
▪ con informal to get money from someone by telling them lies:
They conned her into spending thousands of pounds on useless equipment.
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He conned money out of the public by pretending to collect for charity.
▪ swindle to get money from a person or organization by cheating them in a clever way:
The painting has been stolen and the art gallery has been swindled out of a large sum of money.
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A City businessman who swindled investors out of millions of pounds was jailed for four years.
▪ defraud to commit the crime of getting money from an organization by deceiving them:
He admitted attempting to defraud his former employer of $1 million.
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Johnson is accused of conspiring to defraud the taxman of hundreds of thousands of pounds.
▪ do somebody out of something informal especially British English to dishonestly stop someone from getting or keeping something, especially something they have a right to have:
They’ve done me out of three weeks wages!