"...he seems to have deliberately stolen a quarter of a million,.."
Yup, but folks steal huge sums of money all the time, be it bank robberies, insider trading, general scams, & they don't get subjected to this level of vitriol. It's too much, imo.
The reason this gets more publicity on a poker forum is because we can all see it, it is intersting, and we are all a bit intrigued, so all have a view. Someone mentioned the similar Glasgow scam, but we haven't seen it, and it is all a bit heresay, so nobody has much to say.
On the others it really depends on the publicity. Somebody who has overcharged a pensioner a few thousand and has Dom pop by with BBC camera gets subject to more than his fair share of vitriol, your average insider trader probably not. I don't think anyone has been round his house, and I assume that plod hasn't felt his collar yet. I don't even think it has got a lot of mainstream publicity, so it doesn't feel excessive to me yet.