Had a similar thought when I first read the leaked (or maybe "leaked") document. What if leaking an undeniably damaging (for mtgox' reputation) document is actually a scapegoat, to take the wind out of even worse accusations.
Say for a second Mark acted fraudulently. Reading a few articles in the general media, it looked like the discussion had turned to the unbelievable incompetence with which gox was run. "How can they lose 740k coins without noticing". Say he gets away with that perception, but in reality, kept parts (or all) of the supposedly lost funds as private profit.
Well, like I said, that was my first or second thought that came through my head when I read the draft. Not sure how likely it is.
Exactly. With this # of coins in question there could very well be an element of what you are describing playing out. To me, this possible explanation is at least AS likely as an 'accidental' loss of 744K coins? Perhaps even more likely.....