From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishchicanerychi‧ca‧ne‧ry /ʃɪˈkeɪnəri/ noun [uncountable] formal TRICK/DECEIVEthe use of clever plans or actions to deceive people Clearly there is some chicanery going on.
Examples from the Corpus
chicanery• That would get back at them for their currency chicanery which cost us so dear.• A former book dealer, he remains seduced by the double bind of academic arcana and financial chicanery.• Barnett did not stoop to the kind of chicanery that had made Davis so unpopular.• The mixing of aircraft development and behind the scenes political chicanery makes for a very interesting and revealing read.• After the stories that circulate about Civil Service chicanery, I can attest to the professionalism of my team.• Clearly there is some chicanery going on and perhaps in due course we will find out the truth.• Some lawyers dabble in charity cases, which, I suspect, is whitewash for their chicanery more often than not.• Many blacks were denied the right to vote through chicanery.• However, for the most part it was a civilized system which got to the truth and settled many cases fairly and without chicanery.Origin chicanery (1600-1700) French chicanerie, from chicaner “to cheat, deceive” 