Ruby Corado, the founder and former head of Casa Ruby, a Washington, D.C.-based LGBTQ and immigrant services and emergency shelter, has been arrested and charged with fraud and money laundering for alleged misuse of COVID-19 relief funds.
The 53-year-old Corado has been accused of defrauding the Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs by diverting funds intended to benefit Casa Ruby’s clients — including homeless LGBTQ youth, LGBTQ immigrants, and current and former sex workers — into her personal bank account.
According to The Washington Post, federal prosecutors allege Corado took at least $150,000 of the $1.3 million that Casa Ruby had received in emergency relief funds aimed at assisting small business owners and nonprofits in navigating difficult financial times during COVID-related shutdowns.
Corado was arrested at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, on March 6 after an “unexpected return” to the country, according to prosecutors.
She faces federal charges of bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, illegal monetary transactions, and failure to file a report of a foreign bank account.
Following an initial appearance on March 6 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Corado was ordered held without bond pending a March 8 detention hearing. At that hearing, the judge assigned to the case will determine whether she is to remain in jail pending trial or can be released.
Ruby Corado stepped down as executive director of Casa Ruby in 2021 after the D.C. Department of Human Services refused to renew an $840,000-per-year grant to provide emergency shelter bedding to LGBTQ youth, claiming that Casa Ruby had failed to abide by the terms of the grant.
Corado — and others within the organization who later accused her of wrongdoing — disputed that charge, claiming that D.C. government bureaucrats within the Muriel Bowser administration had misread or misunderstood the terms of the grant agreement.
Corado and others also accused DHS officials of retaliating against Casa Ruby by imposing additional red tape and attempting to cut the grant amount in half, to punish the organization for refusing to amend the agreement retroactively.
Following the controversy over the canceled grant, Corado claimed she was stepping down as the executive director and public face of Casa Ruby to avoid being a “distraction.”
Corado was later sued by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who accused her of funneling more than $400,000 designated for the center into her personal bank accounts, and of violating District of Columbia employment laws by paying workers less than minimum wage as well as failing paying them all the wages they had earned.
Racine sought to freeze Casa Ruby’s bank accounts to prevent Corado from withdrawing additional money. That lawsuit remains ongoing.
Casa Ruby is estimated to have received more than $9.6 million in grants from local government agencies between 2017 and 2022, according to the lawsuit.
After the financial irregularities alleged in Racine’s lawsuit came to light, Corado sold her home in Prince George’s County and fled to her native country of El Salvador, federal prosecutors say.
As a result, residents in transitional housing were left scrambling to find new options, after the landlords of transitional housing accused the organization of not paying rent and the organization’s low-barrier shelters shuttered.
Soon after, the remainder of the organization’s programs also shuttered, and Casa Ruby was placed into receivership to determine whether it could remain operational or should be dissolved. The Wanda Alston Foundation, named the receiver by a judge, later recommended dissolving the entire operation.
A federal judge rejected a request from New York's Nassau County to block New York Attorney General Letitia James from taking legal action against the county for its law prohibiting transgender athletes from using county-owned sports venues.
In February, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, issued an order denying permits for all county-run parks and sports facilities to any female-designated sports team that cannot provide evidence, including original birth certificates attesting that all their members were assigned female at birth.
Days later, James, a Democrat, sent Blakeman a letter telling him to rescind the order, on the grounds that it violates New York State's law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. She called the order "transphobic and blatantly illegal."
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill seeking to block the ability of transgender youth to access gender-affirming treatments.
The bill, passed largely along party lines by both chambers of the Republican-led Legislature, prohibits any entity receiving state funds from providing or subsidizing gender-affirming treatments for minors.
It also prohibits individuals or entities receiving state funds, or state employees in their official capacity, from encouraging youth who are suffering from gender dysphoria to pursue either medical or social transition.
Ruby Corado, the embattled former executive director of the now-defunct Casa Ruby, was released from jail and placed under home arrest as she awaits trial on fraud and money laundering charges.
Corado, 53, will be confined to the home of her niece in Rockville, Md., except for legal or medical appointments.
She is being released on personal recognizance without having to post bail. However, she will be subject to GPS monitoring, barred from accessing her passport, visiting El Salvador, or any consulate office of El Salvador.
Corado was arrested on March 5 at a hotel in Laurel, Md., and charged with bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, illegal monetary transactions, and failure to file a report of a foreign bank account.
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