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Judge orders Paraguay's ex-president Peña held before trial
Reuters • • world
Key Points:
- Former Paraguayan President Santiago Peña has been ordered held in pretrial detention at a military facility while prosecutors investigate his alleged ties to the collapsed digital lender ueno, which left millions of customers unable to access their accounts.
- Peña faces charges of breach of trust and administration for personal gain, accused of using his presidential position to influence government agencies to keep large public deposits at ueno, creating a conflict of interest due to his financial ties to the lender.
- Peña denies wrongdoing and pledges to cooperate with the investigation, while his attorney expects the charges to be dismissed once the investigation concludes.
- Former central bank chief Carlos Carvallo, who previously headed ueno until 2023, has also been ordered to pretrial detention on charges including breach of trust and producing false public documents.
- The crisis has sparked protests in Asuncion, led to Peña’s removal from office, and prompted regulators to pay out $160 million to nearly 1.2 million savers under the state deposit guarantee scheme to contain financial risks.
