Heidi Longo had just been diagnosed with breast cancer and needed money. So she sold her personal truck, gathered what cash she had, and sent $25,000 to Khris Lunsford, then another $20,000 to Automated Trucking. “I really need the money,” she told News Channel 8. Payments came at first. Then she lost contact with Lunsford and his associates.
Longo, formerly of Brandon, Florida, says she put in nearly $100,000 in all. Federal prosecutors say she was one of hundreds of people who bought into a semi-truck investment scheme that pulled in more than $105 million.
The charges
A federal grand jury in Tampa has indicted Kristopher Lunsford, 46, of Henderson, Nevada, who previously lived in Georgia. He faces six counts of wire fraud and two of money laundering, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced. Each wire fraud count carries up to 20 years in prison, and each money laundering count up to 10. Prosecutors are also seeking forfeiture of $105,940,214.93, which the indictment identifies as proceeds of the scheme. That is a figure the government is seeking, not money recovered.
Kehoe said Florida is prosecuting because the victims who reported the case live in the Tampa area. Lunsford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The pitch
Between December 2023 and May 2025, prosecutors say, Lunsford and others persuaded investors to buy leases on semi-trucks. Each truck cost between $25,000 and $40,000. The promise: Lunsford’s operation would buy the trucks, hire drivers, arrange insurance and run everything day to day, while investors collected guaranteed payouts of about $1,000 to $1,250 a week and did no work.
The indictment says it was a fraud. About $75 million from newer investors went to pay earlier ones. More than $25 million went to Lunsford himself. Only about $2 million funded business expenses and operations.
At a news conference, Kehoe itemized the spending. “He spent 4.1 million on clubs and bars, 4.1 million on resorts and casinos, 2.5 million on his private charters. He had 9.1 million in cash, 2.9 million in jewellery and $720,000 in luxury vehicles,” he said. Prosecutors also list real estate, sports cars and luxury-brand goods.
A larger civil case
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a parallel civil action in the Middle District of Florida against Lunsford, AKL Transport and Southern Truck Leasing. Its numbers are bigger. Regulators say the defendants raised at least $127 million from about 765 investors nationwide between May 2023 and May 2025, a window that opens months before the criminal timeline.
The SEC says the businesses claimed to own and run about 2,000 trucks, paying $1,250 a week per vehicle over five years, a return regulators calculated at roughly 260 percent a year. Its complaint says the fleet size “was materially overstated.” Regulators say new deposits paid earlier investors rather than freight fees: about $52 million, roughly 40 percent of deposits. They also accuse Lunsford of misappropriating about $33 million, including nearly $10 million in cash withdrawals, about $6.2 million on travel, bars and nightclubs, and at least $1.9 million in casino expenses.
The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ross Roberts is prosecuting, and Suzanne Nebesky is handling forfeiture. Authorities believe more victims have not come forward and have set up an online questionnaire at forms.fbi.gov/victims/TruckLeaseFraud/view.
Sources
- $105M Truck Scheme Promised Investors $1,250 a Week as Alleged Ponzi Operation Exposed
- Nevada Man Formerly Of Georgia Indicted In Florida Over Alleged $105M Semi-Truck Scheme
- Truck Leasing Operator Charged in $105M Ponzi-Style Scheme
