NORRISTOWN, Pa. — Bill Cosby’s lawyers began a combative defense of the entertainer at his retrial on sexual assault charges here Tuesday, portraying Mr. Cosby as the lonely victim of a desperate “con artist” with financial problems who was steadily working her famous mark for a big payday.

Thomas A. Mesereau Jr., one of Mr. Cosby’s lawyers, shredded any sense that the defense would be cowed by the #MeToo moment. He presented Mr. Cosby’s accuser, Andrea Constand, in his opening remarks to the jury as a willful, greedy woman who ran a “pyramid scheme” and took advantage of a man who had lost a son.

“You are going to be asking yourself during this trial, ‘What does she want from Bill Cosby?’ And you already know the answer: ‘Money, money and lots more money,’” he said.

“She has a history of financial problems until she hits the jackpot with Bill Cosby,” he added.

Ms. Constand, 44, will present her very different version of events when she takes the stand in coming days.