Right. And if you read the emails between the IT dweeb and Lerner, it makes for a bad B movie script. I mean, talk about bad actors. The verbiage and processes they described in the emails are fraudulent.
I used to work in IT (data warehousing, network engineering, server admin, programming, etc...).
These people are FULL of SHIT! Sorry for my French, but there is no other way to put it!
Backup tapes are restored on spare servers, it usually take one to two days (done automatically), and then you either copy/print the emails/recovered data back into place and Voila! Your done!
The cost is MINIMAL! The time is MINIMAL! The effort is MINIMAL!
This cover-up, this avoidance and this misdirection is MONUMENTAL!