It's not a good excuse and I cannot prove it, just what I think probably happened. I definitely do not think they rug pulled and scammed a large sum of money. I cannot prove that either, just the feeling I get.
If they've overspent they've destroyed their rep and business. They should've ran the site professionally. I can't stop my feeling if the scam wasn't deliberate exit now they could've exit any time tomorrow. That's why they've used fake teams in 2019.
Why wasn't Betnomi booted from the forum if warning signs were there from the very beginning. Could it be they've gained trusts because of sig campaigns and paying for competitions?
Because of what I commented before. The trust system is a fact finding system, a posteriori, rather than a preventive system, which is how I think it should be used.
So, the majority opinion is that this type of cases in the forum should be treated as if it were a criminal case in which someone is only convicted when there is evidence beyond reasonable doubt. Then, potential scammers take advantage of it. Just by being careful they can scam or set the stage for it for a while.
And then what happens is that when they have already scammed a lot of money and don't show up on the forum again, then they get 17 red tags on their profiles and flags massively supported, when it's too late.
Working in this way it's easy for scammers entering the forum with fake teams. They'll leave with scammed bitcoin inside their pockets in exchanged for 17 red tags on their profile. That isn't the best solution.