A few years back, HYIPs were all the rage across the online gambling world. Most turned out to be scams, even though, on the surface they appeared to be legitimate investment opportunities.

Is it possible that Mt Gox was started for this very purpose by someone who would run a HYIP?

I'm no expert on computer security, or anything involving cryptography, really, so I can't follow everything that happens with technical proficiency like i would like to. But hasn't Mt Gox been caught lying or being deceptive?

Is it possible or probable that someone would have that much bitcoins in an account, to then be liquidated in the middle of the night?

Is it possible for Mt Gox to be the ones benefiting from the selloff, and "hack", even though they will restore the values to $17, $1000 worth of bitcoins were supposed to have been stolen. Would that be $1000 worth at .01 each? Or just $1000 worth total, at $17? What value is the 1000 at?

Would it be worthwhile for them to do this?
The HYIPs in the past would get people's confidence, then when they paid out for a while, and more people jumped in, they claim DDOS attacks, shut down, and disappear. This was an everyday occurrence for a while, sometimes 2 or 3 a day would fold, but every time, the money would be stolen, never to be heard from again. They always used E-gold because you could not get a refund from the deposits.

Does it make any sense for them to do this to themselves?
Could it be an inside job to destroy bitcoin and run off with the money?

Or are these just more paranoid ramblings?