to gain money or goods from someone by saying or doing something dishonest:
• He admitted attempting to defraud the insurance company.
defraud somebody of something
• She defrauded her employers of thousands of pounds.
* * *
defraud UK US /dɪˈfrɔːd/ verb [T] LAW
► to take money or goods illegally from someone by deceiving them: defraud sb of sth »
An architect and two surveyors defrauded a charity trust of £3.5m by invoicing it for work they did not do and by inflating fees in building contracts.
»The police made a number of arrests at the company's head office in connection with a conspiracy to defraud investors.
Financial and business terms. 2012.