Paraguay Senate votes to remove President Santiago Peña from office following Ueno bank collapse
Lawmakers say he steered more than $800 million in public deposits to Ueno Bank, which froze savings for nearly 3 million customers.
- On Friday, Paraguay's Senate unanimously voted to remove President Santiago Peña for misconduct over Ueno Bank's collapse. Vice President Pedro Alliana was immediately sworn in to lead the country.
- Regulators seized Ueno Bank on Tuesday, freezing nearly 3 million customer accounts and triggering nationwide protests. Lawmakers accused Peña of steering $355 million in state pension funds to the lender while regulators overlooked risky insider lending.
- Prosecutors charged 27 people, including Ueno's controlling shareholder Miguel Vázquez, with breach of trust and placed Peña under house arrest on Friday. Former central bank chief Carlos Carvallo also faced arrest orders.
- President Alliana inherited a government under pressure to return depositors' money and punish those responsible. Paraguay's largest teachers' union, representing more than 40,000 members, plans an indefinite national strike on Monday to demand pension fund protection.
- Peña lost his political base after mentor Horacio Cartes publicly called for his ouster, marking a stunning reversal of fortunes. Unlike other former presidents, Peña will not receive a lifetime Senate seat or parliamentary immunity, leaving him vulnerable to prosecution.
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Noticias de Navarra
Paraguay’s political and financial crisis has taken a new turn with the dismissal and subsequent arrest of former President Santiago Peña. The country’s Attorney General’s Office has ordered his house arrest for an alleged crime of “injury of confidence” in the context of the investigation opened by the Ueno Bank case.
The collapse of the Bank of Ueno with Paraguay's President Santiago Peña brought down the freezing of millions of customers' accounts and escalated charges of conflict of interest and manipulation of oversight. As his deputy assumed the presidency, he began to pursue his predecessor and investigate his links with the Bank.
Paraguay's Former President Detained After Impeachment as Ueno Bank Collapse Sparks Protests
Paraguay's former president Santiago Peña was impeached and detained amid Ueno Bank's collapse as authorities began phased repayments and protesters demanded answers over frozen savings and oversight.
Paraguay’s president removed over financial crisis
Santiago Peña, the president of Paraguay, was impeached and removed from office Friday, just days after the collapse of a major bank in the South American nation that has left millions without access to their savings. Peña is under criminal investigation over his relationship to the bank and his handling of the crisis.
Paraguay's President Santiago Peña has been ousted and placed under house arrest after a massive banking scandal that has left millions of citizens without access to their money.
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