yes. but the cost side matters: if a criminal has $1,000,000 but can only recover $1,000 "safely" burning $999,000 then a method which returns $500,000 for burn of $500,000 is better, if riskier. "it depends"
This scheme was so clearly a laundering play, but everyone pretended it was some amazing exit. I'm confident the tech industry is full of these shenanigans, but I've never seen anything like this uncovered.
I guess taking net company worth into a bank in Cyprus or something and using it as security to buy land, boats, whatever achieves the real outcome. Even if only some 1/nth can be collateralised