Return to Victim

In the movie “Girls! Girls! Girls!” Elvis Presley enthusiastically sang “Return to Sender.” In that general spirit, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a disgorgement award in SEC v. Blackburn when “[f]irst, the disgorgement amounts are the profits defendants received from their securities fraud,” and “[s]econd, the district court concluded that the SEC has identified the victims and created a process for the return of disgorged funds” to the victims. (emphasis added). In so doing, the SEC avoided the “the issue [Liu v. SEC, 140 S. Ct. 1936 (2020)] left open: whether
disgorgement is ‘awarded for victims’ when the money is put into a
Treasury fund that helps “pay whistleblowers reporting securities fraud and
to fund the activities of the Inspector General.” No. 20-30464 (Oct. 12, 2021).