The exchange will then say that the money will be kept until the user does what is asked of them. There was a case not that long ago where an exchange was caught sending confiscated money to a mixer to obscure its history. That shows clear intent that the idea was never to return it to the rightful owner but keep it for themselves. I can't remember which service it was that did that but I think it was @LoyceV who discovered it.
If you're talking about
this case: they mixed the deposit with their own funds, and then send it to what I assume was a customer's address.