In 2022, the founder of the LGBT activist organization Casa Ruby, who is known for cross-dressing, fled to El Salvador due to increasing concerns surrounding allegations of money laundering, fraud, and other questionable activities. Ruby Corado was caught after two years of avoiding responsibility and will finally face the consequences. He could face a maximum sentence of 70 years behind bars if found guilty on all charges.
FBI agents apprehended Corado at a Laurel, Maryland, hotel on March 5th. The LGBT activist is facing charges related to bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, monetary transactions involving illegal proceeds, and failure to report a foreign bank account.
In August 2022, Karl A. Racine, the former attorney general of the District of Columbia, said his office would investigate Casa Ruby’s shortcomings in assisting LGBTQ+ youth. Casa Ruby was an LGBTQ+ advocacy group in Washington, D.C., that claimed to empower its members.
Racine said that Corado was incompetent in his role as district grant and charity gift overseer and in handling program and financial matters. In 2021, Corado allegedly spent Casa Ruby funds for his own use, spending over $60,000 on credit cards, food, and travel to El Salvador. These expenditures were never authorized by the Casa Ruby board of directors.
No records show that the D.C. Department of Human Services gave the go-ahead to spend half a million dollars from Casa Ruby on juvenile housing in El Salvador.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Corado, a 53-year-old transvestite, concealed at least $150,000 by moving the funds to bank accounts in El Salvador while receiving $1.3 million from the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When his financial irregularities were discovered in November 2022, Corado sold his Prince George County house for $775,000, purportedly emptied the nonprofit’s coffers, and fled to his native El Salvador, abandoning unpaid staff, suppliers, and multiple property eviction notices. The nonprofit’s landlords sued for almost $1 million in past-due rent.
According to local reports, Corado spent a weekend in a men’s prison because he was deemed a flight risk. Prettyman Federal Courthouse Judge Robin Meriweather will likely decide whether the accused will stay in prison until trial.
