SEC Says Truck-Leasing Program Was a $127 Million Ponzi Scheme With 765 Investors
The complaint against Kristopher Lunsford, AKL Transport and Southern Truck Leasing says investors were promised $1,250 a week per truck while at least $52 million of their money paid earlier investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Kristopher A. Lunsford and his two Georgia companies, AKL Transport LLC and Southern Truck Leasing LLC, on Sept. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, alleging they ran a $127 million Ponzi scheme built on semi-truck leases sold to roughly 765 investors nationwide, many of them in the Tampa area.
According to the complaint, from at least May 2023 through about May 2025 the defendants sold truck-leasing investment contracts that promised a net return of $1,250 per week for each truck assigned to an investor, over a five-year term. On the required $25,000 initial investment, the SEC calculates that as about 5% per week and roughly 260% a year. Investors were told the money came from fees AKL Transport charged carriers to haul freight on trucks that Southern Truck Leasing bought at auction, and that the companies operated about 2,000 trucks.
The program ran on three agreements, the complaint says: a lease with Southern Truck Leasing under which investors paid $700 a week for five years plus $5,600 at the end, a transportation agreement under which AKL Transport was to pay $1,950 a week from carrier fees, and a maintenance agreement. Lunsford signed all three on behalf of both companies. Investors, often through LLCs formed at Lunsford's direction, wired their $25,000 to AKL Transport and had no role in buying, inspecting or dispatching trucks. The SEC says that makes the agreements investment contracts, and therefore securities.
Lunsford, 46, of Dacula, Georgia, formed both companies in 2023, was their sole member and controlled their bank accounts, the complaint says. He solicited early investors personally, including people he met at bars and nightclubs in Tampa and about 20 prospects at a central Florida barbershop, and recruited outside sales agents who pitched the program through Facebook ads, Instagram posts, YouTube videos and PowerPoint presentations that touted "Low Risk" and "Fast Returns." One agent's video claimed a 108% return.
The representations were false, the SEC alleges. Bank records show less than $3 million came from legitimate business revenue during the period. Instead, the defendants diverted at least $52 million, about 40% of investor deposits, to pay earlier investors, and Lunsford took about $33 million, roughly 25% of investor funds, for personal use: nearly $10 million in cash withdrawals, about $6.2 million on travel, bars and nightclubs, and at least $1.9 million in casino-related expenses. The claimed 2,000-truck fleet was "materially overstated," the complaint says, with company records showing far fewer trucks and lease agreements to different investors listing duplicate VINs.
The SEC charges violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and Rule 10b-5, and seeks an injunction against further violations. The complaint states that the defendants have consented to the court's jurisdiction.
What it means
The structure described here, an interstate for-hire carrier paired with a leasing company selling "passive" truck investments with fixed weekly returns, is one carriers and drivers may recognize from social media pitches. The SEC's theory that the lease, transportation and maintenance agreements together form a security means similar programs can draw federal securities enforcement, not just state consumer claims. Anyone offered a fixed weekly return on a leased truck should treat the promised fleet size and revenue source as claims to verify.
What's next
The court will take up the SEC's request for injunctive relief and any monetary remedies. A separate criminal case against Lunsford is on file in the District of Nevada; media coverage of the indictment is listed under related coverage but is not the basis of this story.
Sources
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lunsford (No. 8:26-cv-02923) — Court filing (District Court, M.D. Florida), 2026-09-24
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