How can anyone take btc-e to court over a slight of hand like that? Nobody knows who they are, what country they're from, or what country btc-e operates from. If nobody knows the slightest thing about them there's no legal recourse for anything they do.
Which is also exactly true of the current point in time. They could walk away with all the funds any time.
If you don't control the keys, you don't control the coins.