UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

before the

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 

Release No. 11198 / June 2, 2023

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 

Release No. 97640 / June 2, 2023

INVESTMENT ADVISERS ACT OF 1940 

Release No. 6323 / June 2, 2023

INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT OF 1940 

Release No. 34933 / June 2, 2023

ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT 

Release No. 4413 / June 2, 2023

In re

Pending Administrative Proceedings

ORDER DISMISSING PROCEEDINGS

On April 5, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Statement Relating 

to Certain Administrative Adjudications (the “April 5 Statement”) describing a control 

deficiency related to the separation of enforcement and adjudicatory functions within our system 

for administrative adjudications. The April 5 Statement explained that the Chair of the 

Commission had initiated a comprehensive internal review to assess the scope and potential 

impact of the control deficiency, which review was conducted by experienced investigative staff 

from the Division of Examinations under the supervision of the Commission’s General Counsel. 

The April 5 Statement further disclosed the review team’s findings regarding SEC v. Cochran1

and SEC v. Jarkesy.

2

 As part of the April 5 Statement, the Commission further committed to

release information about additional affected matters. 

On June 2, 2023, we released a Second Commission Statement Relating to Certain 

Administrative Adjudications (the “June 2 Statement”) regarding Cochran and Jarkesy, as well 

1 Admin. Proc. File No. 3-17228; see also Axon Enters., Inc. v. FTC, 598 U.S. ___, 143 S. 

Ct. 890 (2023).

2 Admin. Proc. File No. 3-15255; see also Jarkesy v. SEC, 34 F.4th 446 (5th Cir. 2022), 

pet. for rev. filed (Mar. 8, 2023).
2

as findings about additional adjudicatory matters currently pending before the Commission that 

were affected by the control deficiency identified in the April 5 Statement. Those include 28

adjudicatory matters in which Division of Enforcement administrative staff accessed one or more 

memoranda drafted by our Office of the General Counsel’s Adjudication Group that was specific 

to a particular matter (the “Affected Matters”) and 61 additional adjudicatory matters in which 

Enforcement administrative staff accessed only memoranda that described procedural actions 

that Adjudication staff recommended that the Commission take in many (or all) pending 

adjudicatory proceedings (“Omnibus Memoranda”).

As detailed in the June 2 Statement, the review team found no evidence that any 

Enforcement staff assigned to investigate and prosecute any of the Affected Matters accessed 

any case-specific Adjudication memoranda before the Commission approved the action 

recommended in those memoranda. And the review team found no evidence that any individuals 

assigned to investigate and prosecute any of the Affected Matters contacted or communicated 

with the Adjudication staff advising the Commission in its decision-making in any of those 

matters. With respect to the eight Omnibus Memoranda accessed by administrative staff, the 

review team found that only one was uploaded to the Enforcement case management database. 

And the review team found no evidence that the administrative staff member who accessed the 

Omnibus Memoranda contacted any Enforcement staff responsible for investigating and 

prosecuting the relevant matters about any of these memoranda.

The review team’s investigation thus uncovered no evidence that the control deficiency

resulted in harm to any respondent or affected the Commission’s adjudication in any 

proceeding.

3

 We have nevertheless determined to dismiss, as a matter of discretion, all pending 

proceedings that the review team found to be connected to the control deficiency, as to which the 

Commission is seeking relief, and in which there is no final order against a respondent.

4 The 

respondents as to whom proceedings are being dismissed are listed in Exhibit A to this order.5

 

3 https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/second-commission-statement-relating-certainadministrative-adjudications.

4 See, e.g., John A. Carley, Exchange Act Release No. 61966, 2010 WL 1638721, at *1 

(Apr. 23, 2010) (exercising our discretion to dismiss certain allegations); Nicholas P. Howard, 

Exchange Act Release No. 50633, 2004 WL 2480716, at *1 (Nov. 4, 2004) (same); cf. Heckler v. 

Chaney, 470 U.S. 821, 831 (1985) (“This Court has recognized on several occasions over many 

years that an agency’s decision not to prosecute or enforce, whether through civil or criminal 

process, is a decision generally committed to an agency’s absolute discretion.”).

5 In dismissing these proceedings, we set aside any initial decision or Commission opinion 

and order not yet final as to a respondent listed in Exhibit A. But we do not disturb any such 

decision or order that has been previously resolved in its entirety. Nor do we disturb any final 

resolution already reached as to any co-respondents in any of the proceedings listed in Exhibit A,

or any orders previously issued as to those co-respondents. This includes Matthew R. Rossi and 

SJL Capital, LLC, and Timothy C. Scarpino in which we set aside the pending proceedings to 

determine what, if any, monetary sanctions are appropriate, but do not disturb the settled orders

(continued . . .)
3

We find that taking this action is appropriate to preserve the Commission’s resources.

6 In doing 

so, we take no view on the merits of Enforcement’s allegations and claims or any defenses raised 

by the respondents, including the extent to which statutes, Commission Rules, and other 

precedent would be determinative or relevant to those allegations, claims, or defenses.

7

Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED that the proceedings against respondents listed in 

Exhibit A are dismissed.

By the Commission.

Vanessa Countryman

Secretary

finding violations and imposing other sanctions. Exchange Act Release No. 85683 (Apr. 17, 

2019); Exchange Act Release No. 83236 (May 15, 2018). 

The proceedings that we are hereby dismissing similarly do not include the 47 matters 

identified in the June 2 Statement that were resolved upon issuance of a final Commission order,

but were reopened due to one or more requests to vacate a remedial bar. We address those 47

matters in separate orders issued concurrently with this order.

6 See, e.g., Glob. Digit. Sols., Inc., Exchange Act Release No. 85364, 2019 WL 1274911, 

at *2 (Mar. 19, 2019) (dismissing proceeding to, in part, preserve the Commission’s resources); 

see also Thomas C. Trauger, CPA, Exchange Act Release No. 51435, 2005 WL 701204, at *1 

(Mar. 25, 2005) (same).

7 Cf. Warren G. Trepp, Exchange Act Release No. 41913, 1999 WL 753922, at *1 

(Sept. 24, 1999) (dismissing sua sponte without reaching merits).
Exhibit A

Respondent(s) Administrative Proceeding Number

Michelle L. Helterbran Cochran, CPA 3-17228 

Mark Feathers 3-15755 

The Robare Group, Ltd., Mark L. Robare, and Jack 

L. Jones, Jr. 3-16047 

Laurie Bebo 3-16293 

Alexandre S. Clug 3-16318 

Timothy W. Carnahan and CYIOS Corporation 3-16386 

Edward M. Daspin, a/k/a “Edward (Ed) Michael” 3-16509 

Charles R. Kokesh 3-16517 

Christopher M. Gibson 3-17184 

James A. Winkelmann, Sr., and Blue Ocean 

Portfolios LLC 3-17253 

Saving2Retire, LLC, and Marian P. Young 3-17352 

Digital Brand Media & Marketing Group, Inc. and 

Intellicell Biosciences, Inc. 3-17990 

INTREorg Systems, Inc. 3-18733 

Toda International Holdings Inc. 3-18746 

Joseph S. Amundsen, CPA, Michael T. Remus, 

CPA, and Michael Remus, CPA 3-18994 

Matthew R. Rossi and SJL Capital, LLC 3-19145 

ERHC Energy, Inc. 3-19419 

Genoil Inc. 3-19661 

Barton W. Stuck 3-19685 
5

EliteSoft Global Inc. 3-19868

Spectrascience, Inc. 3-20308

UBI Blockchain Internet Ltd. 3-20309

Traqer Corp. 3-20312

Rystar Communications Ltd. 3-20344

Spongetech Delivery Systems, Inc. 3-20345

Globesat Holding Corp. 3-20355

Golden Goliath Resources Ltd. 3-20356

Biovest International, Inc., Olie, Inc. (n/k/a 

Syndicate Business Development Corp.), and 

StarGate Entertainment, Inc.

3-17935

Atomic Paintball, Inc., North American Oil & Gas 

Corp., and VelaTel Global Communications, Inc. 3-17991

A.C. Simmonds and Sons, Inc., Game Plan 

Holdings, Inc., and HashingSpace Corp. 3-17999

StationDigital Corp. 3-18004

New Western Energy Corp. and Primco 

Management, Inc. 3-18007

Evolucia, Inc., and OSL Holdings, Inc. 3-18014

Huixin Waste Water Solutions, Inc. 3-18187

Gregory A. Wahl, CPA, Michael Deutchman, CPA, 

and Georgia Chung, CPA 3-18292

Jeffrey Wada, CPA, and David Middendorf, CPA 3-18346

China Energy Technology Corp., Ltd. 3-18378

Timothy C. Scarpino 3-18483

Heidi Wivolin 3-18774
6

Jennifer R. Johnson 3-18780

Susan E. Walker 3-18781

Daniel Joseph Touizer 3-18867