They did participate in a fraudulent scheme to obtain the badges. If they had been verified for their real accomplishments they would still have it.
Consider the following lame analogy:
A man who has been working as a programmer for 30 years has no diploma because he is self taught. He is having trouble finding a new position because for some reason companies are asking for a degree in a related field. He decides to buy one from a sketchy random university. People find out about the scheme and the diploma is invalidated. Should he be able to keep it because he probably knows everything he would be taught at university?
Consider the following lame analogy:
A man who has been working as a programmer for 30 years has no diploma because he is self taught. He is having trouble finding a new position because for some reason companies are asking for a degree in a related field. He decides to buy one from a sketchy random university. People find out about the scheme and the diploma is invalidated. Should he be able to keep it because he probably knows everything he would be taught at university?