I am an owner of a 40w laser engraver, and an immediate family member of mine is a professional woodworker, so I am familiar with most of the tools involved here, yet none of the evidence you have produced as of yet is 100% proof of anything.
Others, likewise qualified and more than you, have chimed in and said the opposite, that it's clear the intricate designs are laser cut. My question to you, as an observer to this issue and an outsider to wood working, specifically what makes you and I presume your family friend, disagree with that assessment?
Qualified how? Because they said so? Do these so called qualified people also own a laser engraver? I am not an outsider to laser engraving or woodworking. I have a hard time believing that any of these so called experts know enough about intricate hand carving, and have enough skill themselves to be able to say for certain a piece was not hand carved just by looking at a photo of it. Just because they are themselves unskilled is not proof that others are incapable. So in short your so called experts are worth about as much as a hot steaming pile.