I don't have enough time to read and respond to all points raised. But I'll quickly point out that lichess costs significantly more than $170/month to run. There is a detailed breakdown of costs here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CGgu-7aNxlZkjLl9l-OlL00fch06xp0Q7eCVDDakYEE/preview

Lichess, a non-profit organisation, has nothing to gain from running a bot-net. No one in lichess' team has any interest in running one. So if there was one, we are not behind it.

I'll also add that not much moderation goes in to casual games. It would yeild too many false positives between two consenting players using assistance for training purposes. If you want legit games that receive heavy moderation, play rated.