Legal Definitions - cozen

The term cozen, while less common in modern legal discourse, historically refers to the act of cheating or defrauding someone through trickery or deceit.

It describes a situation where one person uses cunning, false pretenses, or misleading information to gain an unfair advantage or to deprive another person of their money, property, or rights.

• Example 1: Investment Scam

  A sophisticated con artist persuades an elderly individual to invest their life savings in a fictitious overseas gold mine, promising guaranteed, exceptionally high returns. The con artist provides fake documents and elaborate stories to make the scheme appear legitimate, ultimately absconding with the funds.

  This scenario illustrates cozening because the con artist used elaborate deception and false promises to trick the elderly individual into parting with their money, thereby defrauding them.

• Example 2: Deceptive Sale of Property

  A property owner knowingly conceals severe structural damage in a house they are selling. They use clever staging and superficial repairs to mask the defects, and in the sales contract, they include ambiguous clauses that subtly shift responsibility for undisclosed issues to the buyer, leading the buyer to believe they are purchasing a sound property.

  Here, the property owner cozened the buyer by intentionally hiding critical information and employing deceptive tactics (both physical and contractual) to induce the purchase of a significantly flawed property.

• Example 3: Impersonation for Personal Benefit

  An individual creates a fake online profile, pretending to be a representative of a reputable animal rescue charity. They solicit donations from well-meaning individuals, claiming the funds are for urgent medical care for rescued animals, but instead, they divert all collected money to their personal bank account.

  This is an act of cozening because the individual used a false identity and fabricated a compelling story to deceive people into donating money, which they then fraudulently kept for themselves.