Asunción (Paraguay) (AFP) – The Paraguayan prosecutor's office raided the residence of former President Santiago Peña this Sunday, 50 km from Asunción, within the framework of the investigation into the banking collapse that precipitated his dismissal and arrest, the Public Ministry reported.

First modification: 11/09/2026 - 12:31

The digital bank Ueno Bank was intervened on Tuesday by the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) due to insolvency and some three million clients - half of the country's population - were left without access to their deposits. Eight of its directors are in prison.

The search of Peña's house in the town of San Bernardino occurs "due to the alleged commission of the punishable acts of breach of trust, as instigator, and administration for personal gain, as author," the prosecutor's office reported in a statement.

Peña, 47, was held in preventive detention in a military regiment in Asunción on Saturday. On Friday he had been removed from the Presidency after an accelerated impeachment trial in the Senate.

The former president is being investigated for having favored Ueno Bank with public funds, an entity in whose controlling group he was a shareholder until 2025.

The Prosecutor's Office maintains that the bank received deposits from public entities while granting irregular loans to companies linked to their owners.

The raided mansion is under the scrutiny of justice. According to the indictment, Peña received two loans from Ueno Bank for about $500,000 in May 2024 to finance his construction.

The monthly payments were equivalent to about $38,000, almost six times his salary as president, according to the Prosecutor's Office.

Alliana ordered this Sunday that taxpayers affected by the fall of Ueno "not pay fines, late fees or interest derived from this problem," as reported in X.

The new president reported that the deposits of almost 1.2 million savers have already been returned for an amount close to 158 million dollars. The restitution process is expected to continue throughout the week.

© 2026 AFP

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