‘Worst possible scenario': GALA Hispanic Theatre loses $250K to bank hack

D.C.’s GALA Hispanic Theatre has showcased the talents of Hispanics in the D.C. area for decades, with stories of hardship and triumph taking center stage. Now the drama is playing out behind the curtain.

The theater halted operations and is struggling to stay afloat after losing more than $250,000 to a bank account hack, co-founder Rebecca Medrano said.

Only on News4, Medrano described the moment she learned what happened.

“I broke down in tears. I absolutely felt like I was hit by a truck,” she said. “It’s like waking up to your worst possible scenario.”

Medrano said her accountant was trying to get into the theater’s online bank account last Thursday. She was alerted that someone else was already logged in.

Moments later, the accountant saw that more than $250,000 had vanished in a fraudulent wire transfer. Citibank never alerted them to the transfer and was unable to freeze the funds, Medrano said.

Those funds are critical to keeping the theater’s doors open and lights on. Medrano filed a claim and said she was told getting the money back would be no easy task.

“They told me it could take up to eight months, at which point I replied, ‘GALA will be dead,’” she said.

GALA has cyber insurance, Medrano said, but she was told she would have to pay thousands to hire a lawyer to try to get the claim resolved. It’s a process she said they don’t have the money or time for.

The plan for now is to go on with their next play, which is set to open Feb. 1. The theater located on 14th Street NW in Columbia Heights is working to raise emergency funds.

“The show must go on. It’s death to nonprofits when you stop and you stop for a while, especially if they’re telling me to stop eight months. That would literally kill us. There would be no more GALA theater if that were the case,” Medrano said.

Citibank did not immediately respond to an inquiry about what’s being done to try to recover the money.

Medrano said she filed a report with the FBI.