Paraguay Senate Impeaches President Santiago Peña After Bank Collapse, Who Is Then Arrested

In depth

Paraguay's Senate impeached President Santiago Peña after the collapse of Ueno Bank, which left some three million customers without access to their accounts. All 44 senators present at the vote supported the impeachment, which was intended to prevent Peña from receiving the legal immunity granted to former presidents. Peña announced his resignation the previous day, but the impeachment process continued.

The digital bank Ueno grew within a few years into a bank with about three million customers and managed some $850 million of public money. The central bank suspended its license after its solvency ratio collapsed, and the bank was required to write off problematic assets totaling $280 million. Eight senior executives were arrested, and the head of the regulator resigned.

Prosecutors suspect that Peña, who held shares in the bank's parent company until last year, influenced state bodies to deposit public money in the bank. The investigation revealed loans of about $146 million to companies linked to the bank's owners. A judge ordered Peña held at a military facility, and Peña denies the suspicions. His deputy, Pedro Alliana, was sworn in as the new president.