Criminal denied it if discovered (10)
I believe the answer is:
identified
'discovered' is the definition.
('identify' can be a synonym of 'discover')
'criminal denied it if' is the wordplay.
'criminal' indicates anagramming the letters.
'denied'+'it'+'if'='denieditif'
'denieditif' is an anagram of 'IDENTIFIED'.
(Other definitions for identified that I've seen before include "Given name" , "Recognized" , "Put one's finger on" , "Recognised, named" , "Pointed out; made known" .)