Could this be an inside job, with someone at the hotel doing this in order either to use the room for someone else or to get the payment from Bonvoy?

BTW, if a guest uses a 50,000 point free night cert for a room that costs 15,000 points, is the hotel paid more by Bonvoy than if the room had been booked using points? I'm aware that what the hotel receives depends on whether the hotel has exceeded some occupancy threshold for the night.