Siman 32

In siman 81 it will be explained that one who says to his fellow, "I owe you a maneh," if he did not admit with a complete admission but rather spoke in the manner of mere conversation, he can later say, "I was mocking you." And according to the opinion of the Rosh and the Tur, even this is of no avail unless he says, "You are my witnesses." Therefore, the witnesses must be careful to testify to matters as they occurred, but they should not testify vaguely that he owes him a maneh, for perhaps if they state the language they heard, he would be able to exempt himself. Therefore, they must be careful to testify word for word as they heard, and the beit din will scrutinize his words and discern the matter, whether his claim is effective to exempt himself or not. And similarly regarding other claims, they shall state matters as they occurred; they shall not add and they shall not subtract:

One who hires false witnesses to testify, and based on their words money was extracted from Reuven for Shimon: if Shimon admits that it is a lie, he is obligated to return it. And similarly, if he does not admit it but the witnesses admit that they testified falsely, they are obligated to pay, as has been written in siman 29, section 7. But if the witnesses also do not admit that they testified falsely, but rather this man admits and says, "I hired them to testify falsely," he is exempt by the laws of man because it is merely a gerama, for even according to his words, they should not have testified, and the primary cause of the damage is the witnesses; however, by the laws of Heaven, he is obligated to pay. And this is specifically when the entire matter is a lie; but if the matter is true, that this sum is owed from Reuven to Shimon, but they testified falsely in that they were not present at the time of the act at all, then even though the witnesses and the one who hired them violated "keep far from a false matter," nevertheless he is exempt from paying even by the laws of Heaven since the matter is true. And if he did not hire them but rather enticed them with words to testify falsely and they received no money for this, even if the matter is a lie, he is exempt from paying even by the laws of Heaven, for there is no agent for a sinful act, and only in the case of one who hires do we obligate him because of the act of hiring. And some say that even without hiring, he is obligated by the laws of Heaven, and in every agency for a sinful act, the sender is obligated by the laws of Heaven [Shach].