We're really not disagreeing. Sometimes the MM's take the opposite side of a trade, when there's no match, and if they have an interest. I doubt they do much of this with a crap stock like NMC.
Should someone be "painting" the tape, which I believe is the case here, your facts are all whett!! More of my opinions.
There are some here that have placed orders with brokerages and had the transaction appear as "institutional" interest all in the hopes of making like a legitimate company, I say bollocks! Again, more of my opinions.