A three judge panel in the Eleventh Circuit issued a ruling last Thursday in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Barry Graham et al., Case No. 14-13562, holding—contrary to several other circuits—that the remedy of disgorgement was effectively a forfeiture, and therefore subject to the standard five-year statute of limitations.  The SEC brought this case in 2013, seeking injunctive relief, disgorgement, and civil penalties against a group of individuals allegedly involved in a $300 million Ponzi scheme that ended in 2008.  The SEC’s complaint was initially dismissed by a Florida District Court as entirely time barred under the applicable statute of limitations (28 U.S.C. § 2462).  The Eleventh Circuit panel overturned the district court’s dismissal and reinstated the case, but only in part: the SEC could proceed with its claim for injunctive relief, but not for disgorgement or declaratory relief.