That is correct. A dirty company can change its name and change its management, but to the SEC and the regulators, it is still the same company. Cleaning up a dirty company or shell is very difficult or even impossible, depending on what shady or illegal activities were done in the past. It is usually not even worth the effort. Plus, one of the big stumbling blocks with dirty companies and shells is that much of the old stock or debt is usually still in the hands of the crooks. They will usually continue their dirty ways even after the change in control. For those two reasons, once a company is "dirty", it is pretty much worthless to anyone but other dirty players.
The history of a penny stock is a good indicator of where it is going in the future.
