Paraguay: Prosecutors seek pretrial detention for former president Santiago Peña in the Ueno Bank case
Asunción, Paraguay. Prosecutors in Paraguay on Saturday requested pretrial detention for former president Santiago Peña, formally charged with alleged breach of trust and administration for personal benefit in the investigation into the collapse of Ueno Bank, the bank whose downfall led to his removal from office a day earlier.
Peña was detained on Friday, shortly after the Senate found him guilty in an impeachment trial for poor performance of his duties and removed him from office. On Saturday, police took him to court to give a statement, and hours later prosecutors announced the charges. A judge must now decide, at a hearing, whether to grant the request for pretrial detention.
According to the indictment, Peña is accused of alleged breach of trust as an instigator and administration for personal benefit as the perpetrator, offenses that in their aggravated form can carry up to 10 years in prison, prosecutor Christian Benítez explained.
Prosecutors also charged former Central Bank of Paraguay president Carlos Carvallo Spalding, and requested his pretrial detention, for alleged breach of trust, production of false public documents and administration for personal benefit. They also asked that neither man be allowed to sell or mortgage their assets while the investigation continues.
According to the prosecution's hypothesis, between 2023 and 2026 Ueno Bank received large deposits and placements from public and pension entities, while making allegedly irregular loans to companies linked to Grupo Vázquez. As of September 2026, public and pension funds deposited in the bank totaled about 3.6 trillion guaraníes (around 505 million dollars) and 233.4 million dollars. The indictment also states that Peña held financial assets in Grupo Vázquez worth about 8.894 billion guaraníes, around 1.4 million dollars.
Ueno Bank, with about 2.94 million customers, was taken over by the Central Bank after its solvency fell below the minimum, and its customers cannot recover their savings because of the banking freeze. The new president, Pedro Alliana, who took office on Friday night, has said his priority is to end that restriction as soon as possible.
As A Lo Claro reported on Friday, the Senate removed Peña from office and police detained him over the Ueno Bank collapse: read the previous story.
Photo: El País
Source: El País