The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit on Tuesday against three former executives of Tricolor, a Texas-based used-car seller and subprime auto lender that filed for bankruptcy in September 2025.
The SEC complaint names former CEO Daniel Chu, CFO Jerome Kollar, and Senior Finance Director Ameryn Seibold, accusing them of violating antifraud provisions of U.S. securities laws. The regulator alleges the executives made false and misleading statements about the company’s financial condition from at least 2020 through its collapse, while raising $1.9 billion through asset-backed securities offerings.
Prosecutors separately filed parallel criminal charges in December. Chu has pleaded not guilty to all eight counts in the criminal indictment, and a federal judge earlier this month rejected his request to dismiss the top charge.
The SEC is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, penalties, and permanent bars preventing Chu and Kollar from serving as officers or directors of public companies. The regulator alleges the executives double-pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in subprime auto loans as collateral, undermining the integrity of private credit markets.
David Woodcock, SEC Enforcement Director, stated, "We allege that these defendants defrauded investors based on bogus collateral and violated the integrity of our private credit markets."
Daniel Chu’s attorney, Matthew Schwartz of Boies Schiller Flexner, called the SEC’s case a "rehash" of prior allegations, many of which he described as inaccurate. "We look forward to a full and fair hearing in the courtroom," Schwartz said.
