I would point out that if someone is contributing to conversations (and not talking to himself) in all (most) of his posts, the number of accounts he uses to do this really does not matter, nor does the fact he is getting paid for his signature matter.
IMO, it's not trustworthy behavior. Your defense of alts is sort of supporting Lauda's comments about you making this sort of thing a business.
I think it is a fairly weak argument to say that I support a cause/viewpoint, and therefore earn money from said cause/viewpoint.
I also support due process, but I am not in the business of defending criminals in court. I support the freedom of speech, but do not profit from selling megaphones.
I do not like hidden alts, in general, the same way I wouldn't want to walk into a room of people and have someone come up and introduce themselves as "Dan" and then have a conversation with me, and then I find out when I get back home that this person is also known as Omar, Dave, George, etc. and then I find out he is paid while acting like someone else because of the logo he was wearing. Would I trust that person after that? NO, even if he wasn't getting paid, but this just makes it worse in my mind because it adds greed into the dishonesty.
Greed + dishonesty == two traits shared by all scammers
When you introduce yourself in person, it is a social norm to use your real name (or your nickname). When you post on a discussion board, it is very well known that the "handle" someone is posting from is not that person's real name. I am not under the impression that you are known as "ibminer" to those you interact with every day in person. I am not sure if you use other internet forum or not, but if you do, I think there is a good chance you go by another handle on other forums, possibly those that I may also participate in, it is theoretically possible we have done business on some of those forums under different handles.