Tricolor Immigrant Buyers Trusted TikTok Hero With Criminal Past

In Francisco Aguirre’s telling, he thought it was odd that a friend described buying a car from Tricolor Holdings that came without a license plate.

The self-styled paralegal began digging. He discovered not only that the subprime auto lender had gone bankrupt and faced accusations of years-long fraud, but that its customers were largely undocumented immigrants—thousands of whom were shut out of the legal process and needed help.

Aguirre, 65, took to TikTok under the alias El Jefe Legal, Spanish for The Legal Boss. Filming himself in an empty Tricolor parking lot last fall, he said he could help ...