FTC and Florida Secure $8.39 Million Judgment Against Deceptive Trucking Investment Scheme

USA: FTC and Florida Secure $8.39 Million Judgment Against Deceptive Trucking Investment Scheme

A federal district court in Florida has issued a permanent injunction that shuts down the operations of a company accused of defrauding consumers out of millions of dollars through false promises of trucking‑industry investment opportunities. The court order also imposes an $8,390,025.99 judgment against the defendants.

Court Action and Judgment

The ruling, entered on January 15, 2026, bans the defaulting defendants from engaging in any business or investment opportunity and holds them liable for the full amount of consumer injury claimed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Additional judgments of $1,790,465.54 and $42,153.65 were entered against two relief defendants, Propihub LLC and RivX Investments LLC, respectively.

Alleged Business Model

According to an August 2024 complaint filed jointly by the FTC and the State of Florida, the scheme required consumers to pay $75,000 or more with the promise that RivX would purchase a semi‑truck in the buyer’s name and operate it on their behalf. Marketing materials claimed participants could earn “tens of thousands of dollars,” yet the FTC reports that few, if any, received trucks and none recouped their investment.

Legal Findings and Defendants

The complaint charged the defendants with violations of the FTC Act, the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule, the Consumer Review Fairness Act, and Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The default judgment includes ten primary defendants, among them RivX Automation Corp., RivX Trucking LLC, RivX Logistics LLC, and individuals Antonio Rivodo and Noah Wooten, as well as two relief defendants.

Related Orders

A separate order resolves the FTC’s complaint against Diamond Cargo LLC, which received assets traceable to the alleged misconduct. Diamond Cargo agreed to pay $15,000 and to cooperate with the sale of certain trucks linked to the case.

FTC Commentary

“RivX falsely claimed that consumers could make tens of thousands of dollars through trucking industry business opportunities,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC is committed to protecting America’s workers from business opportunity scams.”

Broader Consumer Protection Implications

The case was pursued by the Chairman’s Joint Labor Task Force, created in February 2025 to target deceptive labor‑market practices. The FTC emphasized that such schemes not only harm individual investors but also erode confidence in legitimate business opportunities.

This report is based on information from Federal Trade Commission, licensed under Public Domain (U.S. Government Work). Source: Official U.S. Government release.