Let me put the question to you Torrgeek: Why did they need the 2000 bitcoins? They are in escrow. They didn't need them to pay for developing the coin, evidently. So they just took them from people like you and locked them up in a legally opaque offshore tax haven doing nothing (except gaining $200k in value while NoKoins still don't exist).
Why did they need you to give them your BTC? What do you think it's for?
The answer is quite simple. To build a community within the crypto space and to have a small group of stakers to start off when the coin launches since it is a PoS coin. It also helps spread the word. Pre-sales are not always only about raising funds though raising funds is certainly a part of it.
Plus, it is not as if funds are never required after a coin launches. That would be ridiculous. There are post-development costs too associated with marketing, offering bounties to contributors etc.