ALBAWABA - Paraguayan (now ex-President) Santiago Pena was charged by prosecutors and taken into custody on Saturday after a popular bank he had ties with collapsed leaving millions of Paraguayans unable to access their money.
Major protests erupted on the streets of Paraguay following the crash of Ueno Bank, a leading online bank popular in Paraguay, which holds the accounts of nearly half of Paraguay's 6.5 million people, plus more than $800 million in government funds.
Pena became president in 2023 and owned significant shares in the bank's holding company, Ueno Holding, that is until he sold the shares last year.
Pena drew ire from both citizens and lawmakers, being accused of using his influence as president to dump millions in government deposits to Ueno Bank and promptly hiding or downplaying the financial issues faced by it even as he was warned about questionable loans and solvency issues.
Furthermore, Pena is accused of a conflict of interest for naming former Ueno Bank director Carlos Carvallo to run Paraguay's Central Bank.
🇵🇾HE LOST EVERYTHING
A victim of the Ueno Bank crash. He and his wife poured every penny they had into a new business.
One of nearly 3 million crushing stories.
Writer: Bri https://t.co/w4EBW5lMF2
Lawmakers had had enough of Pena after the bank’s collapse and just three days later on Friday; the country’s youngest ever president was removed from office by the Senate.
On Saturday, Pena was brought before prosecutors and charged with "breach of trust and mismanagement for personal gain."
Pena had offered to resign but lawmakers insisted on impeaching him instead, stripping him of the immunity he would have enjoyed if he voluntarily stepped down.
Paraguay’s judges froze the assets of Pena and former Ueno Bank director and Pena collaborator Carlos Carvallo who faces the same charges as the former president, plus one of falsifying government documents.
Pena declined to make a statement during the court hearing; meanwhile, the Central Bank said it has started paying out money to Ueno Bank customers caught up in the implosion and that more than 50 percent have already recovered their funds.
Pena was replaced by his Vice President Pedro Alliana, who made promises to stick by the depositors, including pensioners, affected by Ueno's demise.
On the streets of Asuncion, Paraguay’s capital, there was rejoicing over Pena's ouster as the country looks to return to financial normalcy.
Pshemaf Choiaqo is a digital marketer with a passion for media, style, and presentation.
He enjoys researching unorthodox and nonconventional subjects almost as much as he enjoys writing about them.
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