Chu Sold the Same Auto Loans Twice in Manhattan Court
August 19, 2026
He pledged one car twice and called the paper free and clear.
Daniel Chu sold the same subprime auto loan twice and called it clean for the investors. Chu's Texas Tricolor Holdings raised more than $1.9 billion telling everyone those Phoenix lot cars and Texas notes were free and clear of other liens. Chu made defaulted loans look current so the ABS pools would swallow them whole. Chu sold Tricolor as financially sound while he was pledging the identical car to two different deals like it suddenly grew a twin. Chu's whole operation went Chapter 7 in September 2025 and still owes $945 million. Now the SEC is suing Chu in Manhattan federal court for stacking two liens on one loan and marketing it as virgin paper. Chu thought he could moonlight the same wreck twice and walk away looking legitimate. Chu pledged one car like it had a clone and expected nobody to check the title.
