Spotted scavenger bringing money into hot area (5)
I believe the answer is:
hyena
'spotted scavenger' is the definition.
(hyenas are scavengers)
'money into hot area' is the wordplay.
'money' becomes 'yen' (Japanese currency).
'into' indicates putting letters inside.
'hot' becomes 'h' (abbreviation eg on taps).
'area' becomes 'a' (maths abbreviation).
'h'+'a'='ha'
'yen' placed within 'ha' is 'HYENA'.
'bringing' is the link.
(Other definitions for hyena that I've seen before include "African native" , "Spotted scavenger" , "Carrion-feeding carnivore" , "Dog-like scavenger" , "African carrion-feeder" .)