If they can just act poor and avoid to talk about money, it will be safer to hold on by own instead of handing to the entity.
Just hide your money like this How to hide your seed in the wall, anyone including criminal will not know where your money at.
Saving money in the bank and saving digital assets in your wallet are two different things. We spend money everyday and that's why we can not save it the way we save private keys. We don't access our private keys on a daily basis just like the way we will want to access money everyday. No matter how secretive you think the hidden place is, the more you access it, the more you are exposing it and its likely to be discovered.
Banks are criminals deriving profits from people's resources but it's still the best and safest way to store your fiat. It guarantees you rest of mind and gives you assurance irrespective of circumstances. Op, the hacker did not willingly returned the stolen assets, it was recovered according to report from the link you shared.
It is just the way some people are.