There isnt any evidence of shadyness, just “whois privacy” muddying the waters.

If I buy a domain through WW, and use “Whois privacy”, the contact details on the domain will point to WW. I still own the domain though, so any bids/offers go to me.

If you later want to buy the domain, WW would have to ask me if I want to accept.

All we can say for sure is that the domain was registered with WW, not who actually owns it.