Ruby Jade Corado, founder of the Washington D.C.-based non-profit Casa Ruby, was sentenced to 33 months in prison for diverting at least $150,000 in federal Covid-relief funds to offshore accounts for personal use. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Corado, also known as Vladimir Orlando Artiga Corado, pleaded guilty to wire fraud on July 17, 2024. U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden imposed the prison term and ordered Corado to serve two years of supervised release. Additionally, Corado must pay $956,215 in restitution to the Small Business Administration.
“Corado received more than $1.3 million from the Paycheck Protection Program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program for the non-profit Casa Ruby,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Instead of using the funds as promised, Corado stole over $950,000, transferred at least $150,000 to bank accounts in El Salvador, and hid it from the IRS.”
Court documents show that when financial irregularities surfaced at Casa Ruby in 2022, Corado sold her home in Prince Georges County, Maryland and left for El Salvador. FBI agents arrested her on March 5, 2024 at a hotel in Laurel, Maryland after she returned unexpectedly to the United States.
Casa Ruby had reported providing housing services for homeless LGBTQ+ youth and other social support services including mental health support and assistance with immigration paperwork. According to its website before closing operations in July 2022 due to financial difficulties—including unpaid employees and evictions—the organization claimed it employed over 50 people and delivered more than 30,000 services annually to over 6,000 individuals through multiple shelters in Washington D.C.
The sentencing announcement included statements from FBI Assistant Director in Charge Darren B. Cox of the Washington Field Office and District of Columbia Inspector General Daniel W. Lucas.
The case was investigated by the FBI Washington Field Office and the D.C. Office of Inspector General and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Borchert along with former U.S. Attorneys Madhu Chugh and Kathryn Rakoczy.