The Office of the D.C. Attorney General asked a federal court to freeze all the financial accounts of Casa Ruby, a nonprofit that’s provided essential services to LGBTQ residents for the last decade. The organization recently came under scrutiny for alleged mismanagement of public funds.

The OAG sought a temporary restraining order against Casa Ruby in order to prevent its founder, Ruby Corado, from withdrawing or transferring funds in all accounts under the nonprofit’s name until a D.C. Superior Court judge appoints a receiver. An OAG spokesperson says they have not made a recommendation to the court for what third party should take control of Casa Ruby, but it would be neither their office nor another D.C. government entity. Despite announcing her resignation as executive director last fall, Corado continues to be the only individual authorized to access Casa Ruby’s bank or PayPal accounts, and has allegedly been misusing funds as recently as mid-July, says the OAG in court documents.

“Instead of fulfilling its important mission of providing transitional housing and support to LGBTQ+ youth, Casa Ruby diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in District grants and charitable donations from their intended purpose,” said Attorney General Karl Racine in a statement to DCist/WAMU. “Their Executive Director appears to have fled the country, withdrawn at least tens of thousands of dollars of nonprofit funds, and has failed to pay employees and vendors money they are rightfully owed.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.”

The OAG’s investigation follows a bombshell report from the Washington Post, which revealed that the nonprofit failed to pay staff, their landlord, and some vendors before quietly shutting down. Casa Ruby has not announced its closure on social media and its website still says it’s location in DuPont Circle is open. According to the Post, staff described the experience of shuttering without notice as “traumatizing,” for both them and their vulnerable clients.

The Post investigation also raised questions about where grant and donation dollars went, which is now the subject of the OAG investigation. The OAG presents a case to the court that Casa Ruby under the leadership of Corado violated D.C. law by diverting nonprofit funds from its stated purpose.

Casa Ruby received over $9.6 million in local government grants over the last five years, but the board of directors that is expected to provide oversight failed to meet or document any action between 2012 and 2020, according to the OAG. Meaning, Corado acted without any board oversight for years. Board members attempted to meet in late 2020 to mid 2021, but ultimately failed to provide meaningful oversight.

“Thus, for more than a decade, the Board ceded full operational and financial control of the organization to a single officer and utterly failed to fulfill its duty of appropriate oversight,” OAG court documents say. “Since March 2022, Casa Ruby has been unable to produce to the District documentation, including a current board or organizational chart, required to continue to receive grant money.”

Casa Ruby did not appear to receive much local government oversight until recently. The D.C. Department of Human Services decided against renewing a grant last fall. A spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, Corado has withdrawn tens of thousands of dollars from Casa Ruby’s bank and PayPal accounts, according to the OAG — over $60,000 of which went towards credit card bills and what appear to be personal expenses in El Salvador, where Corado is originally from. Corado withdrew at least $604 even after the Post investigation dropped, on July 19, from a PayPal account in Casa Ruby’s name which accepts donations from the public.

D.C. continues to investigate Corado’s whereabouts, per the OAG, and social media posts suggest she is in El Salvador. The OAG cannot extradite for civil actions.