The operator of a pair of U.S. trucking companies is facing charges in connection with an alleged US$127-million Ponzi scheme
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed settled charges against Kristopher Lunsford and his companies, AKL Transport LLC and Southern Truck Leasing LLC, amid allegations that they raised millions from investors in a fraudulent trucking scheme.
According to the regulator’s complaint, which was filed in a U.S. district court in Florida, between May 2023 and May 2025, Lunsford and his companies misled investors by promising them hefty returns from investments that they would use to finance commercial trucking businesses — operating trucks that they claimed to already own, and trucks they claimed they could acquire at a discount.
However, the SEC alleged that early investors’ returns were financed by money obtained from new investors. Specifically, the regulator alleged that they used approximately US$52 million of investors’ money to pay returns to other investors. It also alleged that approximately US$33 million was misappropriated by Lunsford for personal use.
Without admitting the allegations in the SEC’s complaint, Lunsford and his companies consented to the entry of bifurcated judgments that would impose permanent injunctions on them, and leave it to the court to determine whether to order disgorgement and/or monetary penalties at a future date.
At the same time, Lunsford was also charged with six counts of wire fraud and two counts of money laundering in Florida.
In the criminal indictment, U.S. authorities alleged that US$75 million was used to repay early investors and that US$25 million was misappropriated.
The criminal allegations have not been proven, and he is presumed to be innocent in that case.