Only you are right in the perception that there are two types of fraud going on here. Broker/Dealers are a big part of the fraud IMO on the biggest volume days that a penny stock has ever seen. But hey, the SEC only cares about "real" stock (3B) being dumped into the market, not the counterfeit ones (50B).
SpongeTech was a good company with real products across the US. There was nothing fake about Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Costco, Kmart and many others.
If the judge denies the order to stay discovery in the civil case, we might find out what it is the SEC/DOJ doesn't want shareholders to know. Seems like Metters wants it out in the open. Hmmmm... interesting.
SPNG