Paraguay's president ousted and jailed after bank collapse
President Santiago Peña was impeached after Ueno Bank collapsed. The collapse froze 2.9 million customer accounts.
Paraguay's President Santiago Peña resigned after digital lender Ueno Bank collapsed. The central bank then seized the bank.
The seizure froze the accounts of nearly 2.9 million customers, roughly half the nation's population. Congress voted to impeach Peña instead of accepting his resignation.
They said he should face charges over the financial crisis. Santiago Peña had held shares in Grupo Vázquez, Ueno's main shareholder.
He sold them in 2025. Prosecutors say he wrongly sent public and pension funds to Ueno.
He also got two loans totaling US$580,000 from the bank in May 2024. He used them to buy a luxury home.
He faces up to 15 years in prison. He is held in military custody while he waits for trial.
His vice president, Pedro Alliana, became president.
- 2.9 million
- Frozen customer accounts
- 6.1 million
- Country population
- US$580,000
- Loans received
- 15 years
- Maximum prison sentence
Why it mattersA president's downfall over financial ties to a failing bank shows how corruption in financial systems can hurt governments. Such corruption can bring down leaders and damage trust in institutions.
AustraliaNo direct Australian effect yet, though the crisis shows how banking corruption can destabilise Latin American governments, a pattern Australia watches closely.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 4 h ago
