LGBT Nonprofit Leader Locked Out Of Company Bank Accounts, Flees The U.S. Amid Investigation

D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine is attempting to freeze the bank accounts of Casa Ruby, a Washington, D.C.-based LGBT nonprofit, and the organization’s founder has fled the country, according to The Washington Post.

Casa Ruby reportedly wasn’t paying rent on properties it had leased for shelters and housing programs and was failing to pay employees while its founder, Ruby Corado, was earning a $260,000 salary and withdrawing tens of thousands of dollars from the non-profit’s accounts, according to The Washington Post. Corado, who claims to be in El Salvador and denies any wrongdoing, stepped down in the fall of 2021 but maintains sole control over the organization’s bank accounts.

The organization brought in $3.8 million in contributions in 2020, according to its own tax filings. The organization shut down most of its operations in July, but Corado withdrew $604 July 19 and has used the nonprofit’s funds for travel-related expenses in El Salvador, according to The Washington Post.

Casa Ruby offered housing services and other aid to people in the D.C. area with an emphasis on helping transgender people, according to its website.

“Casa Ruby’s operations suggest clear patterns of gross mismanagement and poor oversight of its programs and finances,” Racine said, according to the Post. “Their Executive Director appears to have fled the country, withdrawn at least tens of thousands of dollars of nonprofit funds, and has failed to pay employees and vendors money they are rightfully owed.”

“Upon hearing of the suspicious circumstances surrounding its collapse, our office immediately began investigating and is using our broad authority over District nonprofits to safeguard the organization’s assets and hold its leadership accountable,” he said.

Casa Ruby did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.