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Paraguay’s former President Santiago Pena, removed from office following allegations of a financial scandal, has been ordered into pretrial detention.
Prosecutors charged Pena with “abuse of office” and “mismanagement for personal gain” as part of an investigation into the collapse and closure of Ueno Bank, according to reports.
Brought to the Attorney General’s Office building, Pena answered prosecutors’ questions for about three hours before being transferred back into military police custody.
The court ruled that Pena be held in pretrial detention.
Pena, who was detained at his private residence on Nov. 6, had to spend his first night at the Presidential Escort Regiment due to security risks posed by protesters gathered outside his home.
Meanwhile, at prosecutors’ request, former Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) President Carlos Carvallo, who resigned on Nov. 3 after Ueno Bank’s liquidation process began, also surrendered to authorities Friday night and was arrested.
In a Senate vote, 44 senators backed Pena’s removal. Pena became the second president in the country’s recent democratic history to lose office through impeachment, after former President Fernando Lugo was ousted in June 2012.
Impeached for “abuse of office,” Pena lost the lifetime senator status and legal immunity granted to former presidents after being found guilty in the impeachment process under Article 189 of the Constitution.
The impeachment file prepared by opposition lawmakers stated that Pena put his business interests ahead of his state responsibilities and abused his office by keeping his shares in Ueno Bank’s parent group despite taking office in 2023.
The file also included allegations that the bank was given preferential treatment through the Social Security Institute (IPS) holding about $355 million in pension funds there, and that Carvallo’s appointment as BCP president in 2023 involved irregularities.
Pena had rejected the allegations, saying his priority was to protect the public and that those responsible for the irregularities would be held accountable before the courts.
Ueno Bank, one of the country’s largest private financial institutions, serving 2.9 million of Paraguay’s roughly 6.1 million people, was placed under intervention on Nov. 3 due to a deterioration in its financial structure.
The BCP ordered the bank’s liquidation after its capital adequacy ratio fell below half the legal threshold.
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