I also hope that your theory remains a theory and never becomes a fact because there are already many allegations going on in their name. Many people are directly calling them scammers and making such allegations that they are selling fraudulent services.
Now my point is that they should use it if they have a few thousand BTC stashed in their cold wallet and ensure that users withdraw at the right time.
Otherwise, there is no benefit from all those thousands of bitcoins because scammers also hold thousands of bitcoins in their cold wallets.
Have you seen them defending themself or say a word about what is going on? I have tagged their accounts, and some other DT members did as well, but we haven't heard anything from them, and they did not show any sign of coming back and solving the issues. People are not calling them scammers without any reason. If they are not scammers, then they should solve all the issues and answer all these allegations.
You are right; scammers may have hundreds of bitcoins in their wallets, which they made by scamming people. If they want to prove themself as a legit service, they should solve all the issues and pay their users on time.