HeWhoRazethAll

Some fellow pilots and I were joking about idiotic misdeeds of yesteryear (as groups of layover guys sometimes will do) at a bar. Many of these types of stories could involve busting FARs, flying in a "reckless or careless manner", etc if they were indeed true to fact and not embellished or hyperbolized like most fishing [or flying] stories of days gone by.

Then the discussion turned to "what if some FAA guy is sitting here listening to us and somehow knew who we were?"

One of the guys said "well, the statute of limitations has surely run its course." At this point, another guy's face became somber and he mentioned that there is in fact no statute of limitations. A buddy of his received an LOI for something that had occurred YEARS prior!!
He said his buddy had ended up spending thousands to fight a certificate action for a misdeed at a former employer, with only vague material evidence--mostly hearsay. My BS meter would have been going crazy if my paranoia about the implications that has on a career hadn't done so first. Surely there must be some standard of corpus delicti or similar?

SOOO, esteemed APC people: what would it take for the FAA to investigate an event that happened years in the past? If an inspector had been a fly on the wall in our barroom confessional, would they have scope or authority? Say they see a picture or video or something?