The United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, along with the FBI and FDIC Tuesday announced the unsealing of a 20-page indictment against Tricolor founder and CEO Daniel Chu, charging him with defrauding multiple banks and leading a series of fraudulent schemes.
Chu and Tricolor’s former COO David Goodgame were arrested Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and were awaiting arraignment.
Tricolor filed Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in September, owing lenders in excess of $900 million as a result of the alleged fraudulent schemes, including double-pledging collateral and manipulating assets and collection information.
Chu, 62, of Miami, Fla., was charged with Continuing Financial Crimes Enterprise; Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud Affecting a Financial Institution; Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud Affecting a Financial Institution. The penalties range from life in prison to up to 30 years.
Goodgame, 49, of Waxahachie, Texas, was charged with Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud Affecting a Financial Institution; Bank Fraud and Wire Fraud Affecting a Financial Institution.
Tricolor’s former CFO Jerome Kollar and finance executive Ameryn Seibold pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with the government’s case, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“As alleged in the indictment, CEO Daniel Chu was the leader of an elaborate scheme to defraud creditors of Tricolor,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in a press release. “At his direction, Tricolor repeatedly lied to banks and other credit providers, including by falsifying auto-loan data and ‘double pledging’ collateral. Fraud became an integral component of Tricolor’s business strategy. The resulting billion-dollar collapse harmed banks, investors, employees and customers. It also undermines confidence in our financial system. New Yorkers and all Americans want continuing criminal enterprises shut down, and their leaders brought to justice, whether they are on our streets or in our markets.”
The indictment alleges the fraud occurred between 2018 and 2025. It says Tricolor used two primary schemes to defraud banks: the double-pledging of collateral to multiple lenders and manipulating loan data to make delinquent accounts appear current. The indictment includes text messages on the activity.
The indictment states Tricolor pledged $2.2 million of collateral to lenders but only had $1.4 billion in real collateral, with $800,000 in fraudulent collateral created by the conspirators.
The indictment also claims Chu received $19.3 million in salary and bonuses from Tricolor between August 2023 and August 2025.
Tricolor placed all of its more than 1,000 employees on leave Sept. 6 and filed for bankruptcy Sept. 10.
Vervent was appointed by the bankruptcy court to service Tricolor’s more than 100,000 subprime auto loan accounts.
