As to the question in the subject header, we don't know, without
knowing the secrets he's keeping, whether his real reasons are
legitimate or not.
As I wrote from the beginning on this, there is no limit to human
ingenuity, so "fraud" cannot be ruled out except by the normal
process: truly independent examination and probably replication. If
Rossi were selling E-Cats, that worked, it would be all over. But
he's not, not yet.
It is not unlawful for Rossi to lie about what he's doing, as long as
he doesn't lie to investors. So it is possible for some provided
information to be misleading. At this point, if he's for real, he has
strong motives to distract those who *are* trying like crazy to
figure out the secret. And there is no particular value to full disclosure.
And, of course, if he's not for real, if this is fraud, he has even
more reason to present confusing information.
What we can rule out, from all the evidence, is experimental
artifact, accidental error, mere misinterpretation of results. This
is either for real or it is fraud, because all the reasonable error
modes are ruled out, it would take seriously active deception. That's
about as far as I can go, and I find, from what those I trust have
been saying, deception has become pretty unlikely, as to the heat
being produced.
"Unlikely" is not "impossible."
But as to any details, deception is still on the table. He has very
good reasons to not disclose, even to mislead or distract.
If nothing else, this has smoked out some POV-pushers on Wikipedia,
editors who have clearly betrayed their fixed POV, as they push for
content that reflects it, on the Energy Catalyzer article.
