Former Paraguayan President Peña Appears Before Prosecutors in Ueno Bank Case

Former Paraguayan president Santiago Peña appeared before prosecutors on Saturday in Asunción, the capital, as part of an investigation into the collapse of Ueno Bank. He arrived at the headquarters of the Fiscalía General del Estado, the country's prosecutors' office, in a black vehicle with a reduced police escort, according to Swissinfo. It was his first statement to prosecutors in the case.

Lawmakers impeached Peña after the bank's collapse. Impeachment is the process by which lawmakers can remove an official from office. NPR reported that the legislators unanimously found him guilty of malfeasance in office, meaning wrongdoing while holding the post. The Senate then removed him from office.

Peña announced his resignation on Thursday, but lawmakers refused to accept it and went ahead with the impeachment. On Friday, shortly after the impeachment, he was placed under house arrest.

Paraguay's central bank seized control of Ueno Bank on Tuesday because the bank's solvency ratio, a key measure of its financial strength, no longer met legal standards. The bank is U.S.-owned and served about 3 million customers, more than half of the country's adult population. Peña was a shareholder in the bank.

Prosecutors have accused Peña of breach of trust, among other charges. Prosecutors said the charges were still being determined and could include influence peddling. Peña has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the bank's collapse.

Protests erupted across Asunción after the central bank seized the bank. Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president to serve the rest of Peña's term, which runs until August 2028. Alliana has announced that he will take action to compensate people whose money was lost in the collapse.

Peña is the second Paraguayan president to be removed from office in recent years. Fernando Lugo was the previous president ousted from office, in 2012.