Crossword Genius

Criminal's crime? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

offence

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'crime?' is the definition.
(offence is a kind of crime)

'criminal's' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'criminal' could be 'fence' (someone who handles stolen goods) and 'fence' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'of' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for offence that I've seen before include "The action of attacking an enemy" , "Attack - crime" , "An act punishable by law" , "The handler" , "Cause of annoyance - crime" .)

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