Ousted Paraguay president placed under house arrest following banking crisis
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña was placed under house arrest on Friday minutes after his impeachment by Congress over a severe crisis at Ueno bank. The lender's suspension froze accounts for 2.9 million customers—about 60 percent of the adult population—leaving citizens unable to buy basic essentials and driving retail sales down by up to 80 percent. Peña had attempted to resign on Thursday to secure the lifetime Senate seat and immunity granted to former presidents, but lawmakers rejected his resignation, allowing Vice-President Pedro Alliana to be sworn in as the country's new leader.
Prosecutors detained Peña at his home under investigation for illicit enrichment, money laundering, and influence peddling, with prosecutor Elena Fiore Franco confirming his compliance. The probe also issued an arrest warrant for Carlos Carvallo Spalding, the former Ueno CEO whom Peña appointed central bank chief, who approved Ueno’s digital banking status three months later. Peña faced intense scrutiny over a $1 million personal stake in Ueno Holding held until April 2025, as well as an estimated $800 million to $860 million in state and pension funds steered into the bank. Amid nationwide protests, opposition senator Rafael Filizzola condemned the scandal as the democratic era's greatest fraud.
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