Former President Peña detained in Paraguay following removal over Ueno Bank case
The National Police confirmed the house arrest of Santiago Peña hours after his removal by the Senate. The Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for alleged breach of trust.
House arrest of Santiago Peña marks start of judicial phase in Paraguay
The National Police of Paraguay confirmed on Friday, 6 November, the detention of former president Santiago Peña, who was placed under house arrest hours after the Senate removed him through political trial. According to mvsnoticias.com, the measure was implemented in the context of the financial and political crisis generated by the closure of Ueno Bank.
Authorities acted on a detention order issued by the Public Prosecutor's Office, according to information from the EFE agency. The former president is being investigated for the alleged crime of breach of trust. The National Police reported that Peña "is now officially detained" at his residence, thereby confirming compliance with the measure requested by the Public Ministry.
The Senate's removal resulted in the loss of Peña's presidential immunity, which authorised the Public Prosecutor's Office to issue an order directed to the commander of the National Police. The document establishes that the former head of state must remain detained "until such time as he is placed at the disposal of the Public Ministry in the Unit for Economic and Anti-Corruption Offences".
The investigation focuses on the alleged crime of breach of trust, although authorities have not yet specified all the facts underlying the accusation. The detention constitutes a measure within the criminal procedure and does not imply that his guilt has been determined.
Link to Ueno Bank and public funds
The case is framed within the scandal over the closure of Ueno Bank, an institution that concentrated significant deposits of state resources during Peña's administration. According to the reports cited, the former president made investments between 2019 and 2025 in a company linked to Miguel Vázquez, the principal shareholder of the business group to which the bank belongs. That commercial relationship began before Peña assumed the Presidency in 2023.
The public funds deposited in Ueno Bank totalled more than 800 million dollars, a figure that came to represent approximately 20 per cent of state savings in the banking system by the end of September. Among those resources were funds from the Paraguayan social security system. Nevertheless, authorities point out that Peña was neither owner nor direct shareholder of the bank, and that these financial antecedents do not in themselves constitute proof of criminal responsibility.
Former Central Bank president's detention also ordered
The Public Prosecutor's Office order equally contemplates the detention of Carlos Carvallo Spalding, who headed the Central Bank of Paraguay until last Tuesday and stepped down amid the crisis caused by the closure of Ueno Bank. To date, authorities have not confirmed that Carvallo has been effectively detained, a situation that distinguishes his case from that of Peña.
With the execution of the arrest order, the proceedings transitioned from the political removal of the president to a new stage of a judicial character.
Source: Google News CL — Santiago