Although I do not have evidence of this, I would speculate that aTriz was essentially selling trust by way of entering into a long term signature deal, and giving what is basically a fake vouch, even though he knew the product was worthless.

The US$300/month payment is on the high range for even legendary members, especially for only 30 posts/month, and in terms of US dollars, the cost of signature space is a lot higher than it has been in the past (in large part because of the massive increase in the BTCUSD price).

My speculation is that alia paid aTriz to give the fake vouch, enter into the long term signature deal, and say that 5 months (~1,500) were paid up front (I have not seen where aTriz say this, however others have said this) to give alia false credibility. It is very well possible that no money has actually changed hands for the signature deal.

It is outright insane to trust a new user with $1500, especially when you have a fair amount of trust yourself, and when the other person is claiming to have well above that in crypto, so they can't say they need the money for x expenses.