Former Tricolor Chief Operating Officer David Goodgame pleaded guilty to fraud charges Wednesday in a New York federal court, according to court documents.
How it got here: Goodgame and Tricolor founder Daniel Chu were charged with multiple felony charges, connected to the large buy-here, pay-here dealer defrauding lenders, including JPMorgan, Barclays, and Fifth Third Bancorp.
The alleged fraud schemes included double-pledging vehicles and falsifying loan data.
Before the charges, Tricolor filed for bankruptcy, owing lenders in excess of $900 million.
Tricolor closed all its 65 locations in September 2025 after placing more than 1,000 employees on leave.
Accepting charges: Goodgame pleaded guilty to the six charges, including bank and wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and making false statements.
A sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 4.
Bloomberg reported Goodgame told Judge P. Kevin Castel at Wednesday’s proceedings that he knew Tricolor was defrauding the banks.
He also reportedly agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in the case against Chu.
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Still pending: The trial for Chu is set for Oct. 19 in New York.
An updated indictment of eight charges, ranging from continuing financial crimes enterprise and bank fraud to securities fraud, was filed on Wednesday.
The case states that Tricolor pledged $2.2 billion in collateral to investors with only $1.4 billion in real collateral.
The indictment alleges Chu received $19.3 million in payments from Tricolor between August 2023 and August 2025, and an additional payment to buy a house in the weeks before Tricolor filed for bankruptcy.
Chu pleaded not guilty to charges in January.
Why it matters: The collapse of Tricolor and the fraud case brought added scrutiny in the BHPH space, according to a Federal Reserve report in May.
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