{"id":214031,"date":"2022-05-17T15:41:04","date_gmt":"2022-05-17T22:41:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=214031"},"modified":"2022-05-17T17:40:47","modified_gmt":"2022-05-18T00:40:47","slug":"ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio Nonprofit Closes After Director Allegedly Embezzles $400K For Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization’s now-former executive director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to cover her gambling habit.<\/p>\n

\"Ohio
Sabina Serratos, the former executive director of Adelante, The Latino Resource Center, during a Zoom interview in 2020. Serratos is accused of stealing more than $400,000 from the charity to gamble. (Image: CBS11<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toledo’s The Blade <\/i>reports that Sabina Serratos is the subject of a criminal complaint recently filed with the Toledo Police Department. Serratos served as the executive director of Adelante, The Latino Resource Center, until her dismissal earlier this year.<\/p>\n

Serratos’ termination came after board members were informed of potential fraud stemming from an audit of the organization’s finances conducted by a third party. Adelante Chairman Daniel Briones filed the complaint with police on April 29.<\/p>\n

\n

Briones says the audit discovered that more than $400,000 went missing. Auditors linked the missing money<\/a> back to Serratos and fraudulent business receipts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Founded in 1990, Adelante is a Latino social services agency and advocacy that provides support, education, and outreach to the local community in Northwest Ohio. Among its initiatives are combating food insecurity, language barriers, and unemployment.<\/p>\n

Guilt Reportedly Admitted<\/b><\/h2>\n

Serratos was appointed executive director of Adelante in 2018. In that role, she reportedly had access to the organization’s banking accounts and credit and debit cards. But instead of only using that money for the organization, which primarily comes from the state and county, as well as private donors, Serratos allegedly used the nonprofit as her personal piggy bank<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Adelante board told ABC13 <\/i>that Serratos eventually admitted to stealing money to cover her lavish gambling trips. She patronized casinos in Las Vegas and Detroit, but most of the money was spent gambling at Hollywood Casino Toledo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Auditors believe Serratos gambled away nearly $340,000 of Adelante’s money at the Toledo casino. The bulk of the expenses were incurred in April, August, and November of 2021.<\/p>\n

The financial probe additionally turned up unexplainable ATM withdrawals and transactions using Adelante cards totaling $25,445. A loan for $49,900 from KeyBank was also approved for the organization, but auditors say that money also went to the casinos.<\/p>\n

\n

The auditor report found potential impropriety and they brought it to our attention. We are reacting to information that was given to us,”<\/strong> Briones told The Blade<\/i>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“Our main goal is to file a police report, because that is what our insurance requires. As far as the investigation goes, that is out of our hands,” he added.<\/p>\n

Briones said all fundraising efforts have been suspended, and the Adelante facility is closed. Adelante is endowed by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Lucas County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services.<\/p>\n

Latino Culture Potential Culprit<\/b><\/h2>\n

During an April 2020 interview with CBS11<\/i>, Serratos stressed the struggles that the Latino and Hispanic communities were suffering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The then-Adelante director said language barriers and many community members being undocumented are complicating the ability to receive federal and state assistance.<\/p>\n

\n

Keep in mind, the Latino population is a very private population. There is a stigma with anybody reaching out for any kind of help within our culture,”<\/strong> Serrato said while encouraging anyone in need to call Adelante.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

No criminal charges have yet been brought against Serratos. A Change.org <\/i>petition is calling for the resignation of the entire Adelante board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization’s now-former executive director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to cover her gambling habit. Toledo’s The Blade reports that Sabina Serratos is the subject of a criminal complaint recently filed with the Toledo Police Department. Serratos served as the executive director of Adelante, The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":214034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLatino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Latino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-17T22:41:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-18T00:40:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/\",\"name\":\"Latino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-17T22:41:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-18T00:40:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Ohio Latino nonprofit embezzle Toledo Hollywood\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ohio Nonprofit Closes After Director Allegedly Embezzles $400K For Gambling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Latino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble","description":"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Latino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble","og_description":"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2022-05-17T22:41:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-18T00:40:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/","name":"Latino Nonprofit Shutters After Director Embezzles $400K to Gamble","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg","datePublished":"2022-05-17T22:41:04+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-18T00:40:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"A Latino nonprofit in Ohio has closed its doors after the organization's former director reportedly admitted to embezzling funds to gamble.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Screen-Shot-2022-05-17-at-6.29.02-PM.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Ohio Latino nonprofit embezzle Toledo Hollywood"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ohio-latino-nonprofit-shutters-director-embezzles-400k-gamble\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ohio Nonprofit Closes After Director Allegedly Embezzles $400K For Gambling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214031"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}