Some Balkan swindler always ignoring a note (8)
I believe the answer is:
crotchet
'note' is the definition.
(musical note)
I don't understand how the rest of the clue works.
(Other definitions for crotchet that I've seen before include "One in bar" , "Musical note equal to half a minim" , "In music, it has quarter the time value of a whole note" , "perverse notion" , "Quarter of a semibreve" .)