He won't even dare to speak up in public. Remember what happened to people who did not cry at his father's funeral? Jail or labour camps.
IMO a man who chooses to take the money and tries to justify stealing by giving to the poor is still a crook. He wants to stay in office, be popular, make career, but he also wants to be able to say that hey, at least I gave something back! If he really wanted to be clean he should have resigned and exposed the corruption.