Falsely alleges in front of ministers (8)

I believe the answer is:

pretends

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'falsely alleges' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'front of ministers' is the wordplay.
'front of' becomes 'pre' (I've seen this in other clues).
'ministers' becomes 'tends' (I've seen this in another clue).
'pre'+'tends'='PRETENDS'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pretends that I've seen before include "Feigns, dissembles" , "Lays claim" , "Makes a claim" , "Shams" , "Plays make-believe" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish News.

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