Paraguayan authorities moved ousted President Santiago Peña from house arrest to a military unit following violent protests over the collapse of digital lender Ueno Bank. Prosecutors had detained Peña at his residence on Friday night on suspicion of breach of trust, influence peddling and misappropriation of funds, hours after the Senate voted to impeach him and swear in Vice President Pedro Alliana as his successor.
By removing Peña rather than accepting his Thursday resignation offer, lawmakers stripped him of the prosecutorial immunity that comes with the lifetime Senate seat granted to former presidents. Prosecutors are investigating regulatory oversight of Ueno Bank and the placement of $850 million in public funds at the lender, where state pension deposits climbed 4,600% under Peña’s administration from 80 billion guaraníes to 1.6 trillion guaraníes. Peña, who denies wrongdoing, held a stake in Ueno’s parent conglomerate, Grupo Vázquez, until March 2025. Authorities also issued an arrest warrant for former Central Bank President Carlos Carvallo, who previously led Ueno’s predecessor firm, and ordered the detention of eight bank figures, including founder Miguel Vázquez and Ueno President Juan Manuel Gustale.
