Tricolor’s Frantic Final Days Began With a Call From JPMorgan (1)

Daniel Chu was in Italy, a world away from the sweltering Texas car lots he had built his fortune on, when his phone lit up.

It was a banker at JPMorgan Chase, the firm that had lent hundreds of millions of dollars to his used-car business, Tricolor Holdings, helping transform it into a sprawling empire across the US southwest.

There’s a problem, the voice on the line said, a big problem. It’s the collateral backing the loans, the banker explained, there are red flags everywhere, and we need to talk, face to face.

Daniel Chu

Photographer: Arturo Olmos

Chu caught a flight ...