Reportedly penalised for discovery (4)
I believe the answer is:
find
'discovery' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'reportedly penalised' is the wordplay.
'reportedly' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'penalised' becomes 'fined' (synonyms).
'fined' is a homophone of 'FIND'.
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for find that I've seen before include "Track down" , "Acquisition" , "Discover by chance" , "Locate or discover" , "Discovery" .)