Founder of LGBTQ+ Non-Profit Arrested, Ordered Held on Fraud and Money Laundering Counts

            WASHINGTON – Ruby Corado, 53, the founder of Casa Ruby, Inc., a Washington D.C.-based non-profit that provided services to the LGBTQ+ community, had her first appearance in U.S. District Court today to face charges of defrauding Paycheck Protection and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, and money laundering. Corado allegedly diverted at least $150,000 of $1.3 million in taxpayer-backed emergency relief funds, intended for Casa Ruby, to private bank accounts off-shore for her personal use. 

            Corado is charged by complaint with bank fraud, wire fraud, laundering of monetary instruments, monetary transactions in criminally derived proceeds, and failure to file a report of foreign bank account.

            According to court documents, Corado received more than $1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. 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. During 2022, when financial irregularities at Casa Ruby became public, Corado sold her home in Prince Georges County and fled to El Salvador. FBI agents arrested Corado on March 5, 2024, at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland, after her unexpected return to the United States. Corado is being held pending a detention hearing on Friday.  

            Casa Ruby effectively ceased operations in July 2022 when it shuttered its transitional housing, failed to pay its employees, and faced eviction from multiple properties for failure to pay rent.

            Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Wire fraud carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The money laundering charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes.  If convicted of any offense, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

            This case is being investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the D.C. Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Borchert, Madhu Chugh, and Kathryn Rakoczy.

            A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.