"Dummy" Sideboard
There are many sleeves that become damaged more easily when cards are moved
into and out of them, particularly the way that many players pinch the top
of the sleeve and slide it between their fingers to create a spaces to
insert the card. I personally always shuffle my sideboard into my deck and
remove 15 cards as a personal preference, but that's neither here nor there.
I am confused. The OP, as I recall, gave us that the player stated he
would admit he had no sideboard if asked to present one. Why are we
arguing about the confusion of the sideboard presentation? “I don't have
one” seems to be fairly unambiguous and unlikely to lead to confusion about
whether the cards he's messing with between games are part of his sideboard
or not. If the opponent chooses not to inquire and assume that he is
sideboarding, that is the opponent's choice.
I am curious: how many times have you seen sideboards presented? It's not
all that often. I am not even great myself about making a point to do
this. I expect that is this player's gamble, and he's admitted that the
jig will be up if his opponent asks about it. I am not sure what the
problem we have here is.