I can't think of a helicopter that I have flown where you could exceed Vne in the cruise without pulling higher than max continuous power.
Best range speed is usually approx equal to Vno (roughly 10kts or 10% below Vne if memory serves!) so, unless they were experiencing high head winds, there wouldn't be any benefit from exceeding Vne.
I would put this part of the story down to inacurate reporting - there again I am always open to being proven wrong
Cheers
TeeS