https://www.washingtonblade.com/2024/03/06/ruby-corado-arrested-on-federal-bank-fraud-money-laundering-charges/

Ruby Corado, the founder and longtime executive director of the now defunct D.C. LGBTQ community services organization Casa Ruby, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday at a hotel in Laurel, Md., on charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and other offenses based on allegations that she embezzled at least $150,000 from Casa Ruby before it closed its doors in 2022.

The Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. announced the arrest in a statement released Wednesday, stating that Corado was being held until at least Friday when she will appear for a detention hearing at U.S. District Court for D.C., when a judge will decide whether can be released while awaiting trial.

Corado had been living in El Salvador for at least the past two years or more following her decision to step down as executive director of Casa Ruby in 2022. Charging documents filed in federal court in D.C. on Wednesday do not say why Corado returned to the U.S., when she returned and how FBI investigators learned of her return.

“According to court documents, Corado received more than $1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program,” a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.

The two federal programs were put in place at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic to assist businesses and community organizations adversely impacted by the pandemic.

“Instead of using the funds as she promised, Corado stole at least $150,000 by transferring the money to bank accounts in El Salvador, which she hid from the IRS,” the statement says. “During 2022, when financial irregularities at Casa Ruby became public, Corado sold her home in Prince George’s County and fled to El Salvador,” the U.S. Attorney’s statement continues.

“FBI agents arrested Corado on March 5, 2024, at a hotel in Laurel, Md., after her unexpected return to the United States,” the statement says. “Corado is being held pending a detention hearing on Friday.”

Patricia Hartman, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, pointed to court documents for the Corado case released on Wednesday that say they were held under seal until Corado’s initial court appearance.

In addition to the FBI, the criminal case against Corado is being investigated by D.C. Office of the Inspector General, court documents show.

The U.S. Attorney’s statement points out that the charges filed against Corado are serious. Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years and money laundering also carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Among the details disclosed in a 19-page affidavit in support of Corado’s arrest filed in U.S. District Court initially under seal on March 1, Casa Ruby effectively ceased operating in July 2022 when it closed its transitional housing facilities for homeless LGBTQ youth, it had not paid its employees and was being evicted from several of its properties for failing to pay rent.

Corado was outspoken in identifying as a transgender woman and provided services for trans youth and spoke out for trans rights in her role as director of Casa Ruby. But in what may come as a surprise to those who knew her, the arrest affidavit states that Corado transferred the money she is now accused of embezzling from Casa Ruby to a bank account in El Salvador she opened using her birth name.

Corado’s arrest comes close to two years after the Office of the D.C. Attorney General filed a civil suit against Casa Ruby and Corado on grounds that Casa Ruby, under Corado’s leadership, violated the D.C. Nonprofit Corporations Act in its alleged improper financial dealings.

The local LGBTQ youth services organization Wanda Alston Foundation, which a D.C. Superior Court judge named to take over Casa Ruby as a court appointed receiver, has also filed a lawsuit against Corado and Casa Ruby’s former board members seeking monetary damages to compensate former employees and former Casa Ruby clients who lost services when Casa Ruby closed its doors.