I suspect they want to get rid of ethically-minded employees who could potentially become whistle-blowers later when they find out how the company really makes

I suspect they want to get rid of ethically-minded employees who could potentially become whistle-blowers later when they find out how the company really makes its money. The next step will be to start increasing the salaries and bonuses of remaining employees. If you're ethically-minded, the best strategy is to stay in the company, pretend to be one of them, then when you catch them doing something bad, blow the whistle on them.