Casa Ruby founder, Ruby Corado, had a message for those she once served and talks about her future.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — With federal authorities monitoring her movements, Ruby Corado had only a few hours to sit down at our studios in Northwest Washington. Corado remains under house arrest as she awaits sentencing next week after pleading guilty last year to federal wire fraud.
This is a dramatic turn for this DC advocate, known for supporting and speaking out on issues impacting those who are LGBTQ and unhoused.
Prosecutors said Corado received more than $1.3 million in COVID-relief funds for her nonprofit, Casa Ruby, and diverted at least $150,000 for personal use in El Salvador.
Corado has disputed the characterization that funds were spent for personal reasons.
According to court transcripts, Corado mentioned a project in El Salvador. Before the pandemic, she was working to set up a Casa Ruby branch in El Salvador to help LGBTQ migrants avoid a dangerous journey to the U.S.
“At the time there was a huge crisis with immigration. We helped them. That was my mission,” Corado said in the interview with WUSA9’s Lorenzo Hall.
Casa Ruby’s financial troubles became public in 2022 after a tweet by then-D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine. The nonprofit later closed, employees reported missed paychecks, and Corado reportedly sold her home and left the U.S.
Investigators said she returned in 2024 and was arrested by FBI agents at a hotel in Laurel, Md.
Asked whether she left while the agency folded, Corado pushed back on that portrayal.
“There was a famous tweet that said it appears she has left the country. No, I was on and off,” she said.
Hundreds of clients who relied on Casa Ruby for shelter and services were left without support as the organization collapsed — a fact Corado says has weighed on her more than her own fate.
“The first thing I want to say to people, mainly clients, I am sorry. I am sorry that I have not been there to support you the way I always have. That is something that is part of my healing,” she said.
When pressed on remorse, Corado admitted to regret for mistakes that endangered the work the organization performed.
“Remorseful of making a mistake? Absolutely. If I had known that the impact of my work and the decisions that I made would put the work at risk, yes,” she told Hall.
As sentencing approaches, Corado signaled she will step back from running another non-profit.
“I know one thing, I will not be a spokesperson for the community. I am not going to be a critic. I am not going to criticize the system. The system has a lot of power,” she said.
Corado said she could not provide specifics about her case because she’s not permitted to do so until sentencing.
She faces up to 30 years in prison.