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Ruby Corado, 53, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in US District Court to diverting the taxpayer-backed emergency funds to private off-shore bank accounts, which then was used for her own gain.
She was charged in March 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.
On July 17, she pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging her with wire fraud, according to the DOJ.
According to court documents, on behalf of Casa Ruby, stole at least $150,000 of $1.3 million in relief cash that was earmarked for the non-profit, doing so by transferring money to bank accounts in El Salvador, which she hid from the IRS.
In 2022, when financial irregularities at Casa Ruby became public, Corado sold her home in Prince Georges County and fled to El Salvador, federal officials say.
"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," investigators said.
FBI agents arrested Corado on Tuesday, March 5, at a hotel in Laurel, after her unexpected return to the United States, they added.
"I manage the daily administration and operations of Casa Ruby a Bilingual Multicultural LGBT Organization," Corado's LinkedIn account states.
"My focus is policy and direct services to individuals that because of their sexual (o)rientation, gender identity/expression encounter many barriers and obstacles that keep them from achieving their full potential."
My mission is to create success stories among those that society deems disposable."
Before shuttering its doors, "Casa Ruby had claimed to provide housing services for homeless LGBTQ+ youth including transitional housing; to assist LGBTQ+ immigrants and connect them to attorneys;
"To provide social services such as case management and therapeutic mental health support for survivors of violence, and to assist with a wide array of services such as assisting with passport applications and certain visa applications."
When she is sentenced in January, Corado will face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud.
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