PARAGUAY · UENO BANK
Key Facts
- Who Ex-president Santiago Peña and five officials face a new charge of criminal association.
- What Prosecutors allege an organised group favoured interests tied to Ueno Bank and its business group.
- When The charges were presented on Friday 13 November 2026 in criminal case 92/2026.
- Next A judge ordered pretrial detention for three ex-board members and the banking superintendent on 13 November; the first holding period is 15 days for at least two of them.
- Status All suspects are presumed innocent, and no trial has started.
- Power Index Paraguay ranks 10th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 35.0 points (November 2026 edition).
Prosecutors allege a former president and five officials formed an organised group around a failed bank, and all are presumed innocent.
Paraguay’s prosecutors have added a charge of criminal association, meaning running a criminal group, against ex-president Santiago Peña and five other people in the Ueno Bank case. The Ministerio Público, Paraguay’s prosecution service, presented the new charges on Friday 13 November 2026, according to RCC, a Paraguayan broadcaster.
Ueno Bank is a Paraguayan bank that grew out of the lender Financiera Ueno, according to El Mostrador, a Chilean news site, and its crisis is the subject of criminal case 92/2026. A charge is not a conviction, and every suspect keeps the presumption of innocence, RCC reported on 13 November.
What Prosecutors Allege
The charges fall under criminal case 92/2026, RCC reported on 13 November. Prosecutors allege the suspects “would have been part of an organised structure with distribution of functions”, as quoted by El Mostrador (translated from Spanish).
The alleged purpose was to favour interests linked to Grupo Vázquez, the business group tied to Ueno Bank, and the bank itself, RCC and El Mostrador reported. Prosecutors allege three former board members of the Central Bank of Paraguay (BCP) knew of technical reports warning of excess credit limits for companies linked to Ueno and did not push corrective measures, RCC and El Mostrador reported.
Prosecutors also examine a Central Bank reply to the Senate, Paraguay’s upper house of Congress. Under their hypothesis, the reply left out relevant information about flagged credit operations, RCC reported on 13 November.
Who Is Charged
Santiago Peña, who led Paraguay until the Senate removed him last week in an impeachment trial, is charged with criminal association, El Mostrador reported on 13 November. He was already charged with breach of trust and self-serving management, and El Mostrador says he is in pretrial detention.
Carlos Carvallo, former head of the Central Bank of Paraguay, faces the same new charge, the Ministerio Público said. El Mostrador reported that he is also accused of breach of trust, producing false public documents and self-serving management.
El Mostrador also reported that Carvallo led Financiera Ueno before he was named to head the Central Bank in 2023. Holger Insfrán, the banking superintendent, who regulates banks from inside the Central Bank, is charged with criminal association as well, according to RCC.
ABC Color, a Paraguayan newspaper, reported that judge Humberto Otazú ordered his pretrial detention on 13 November. Three former Central Bank board members face criminal association and breach of trust (“lesión de confianza”), the Ministerio Público said.
They are Marco Aurelio González, a former state attorney general (Procurador General), Liana Caballero and Miguel Mora. One of the three, González, also faces charges of producing and using false public documents, ABC Color reported on 13 November.
All six are suspects after an “imputación”, a formal charge by prosecutors that is neither a conviction nor a trial. Insfrán was detained on Thursday 12 November during a search of his home, El Mostrador reported.
Caballero and Mora were arrested at their homes on Friday 13 November, and González turned himself in at a police station in Asunción.
Why It Matters
Christian Benítez, one of the prosecutors, told reporters on 13 November that criminal association and breach of trust are “predicate offences” to money laundering, El Mostrador reported. In plain terms, he said prosecutors treat them as crimes that can feed a laundering case, and he said the expected penalty for Peña remains 15 years in prison.
The new charge, if upheld, would reach officials who were meant to supervise the bank, not only the people linked to it. That makes the case a test of how far responsibility for a bank failure extends in Paraguay.
Prosecutors had asked for pretrial detention for González and house arrest with an electronic ankle tag for Caballero and Mora, RCC and ABC Color reported. On Friday 13 November, judge Humberto Otazú, of the economic-crimes court, instead ordered pretrial detention for all three, ABC Color reported, saying the facts are serious and prosecutors need time to investigate.
Prosecutors also asked for a general ban on selling or encumbering assets, frozen accounts and six months to continue the investigation, RCC reported. The people most directly affected are the six suspects and the Central Bank’s own record.
Published reports give no confirmed figure for depositor losses, so we do not state one.
What to Watch
ABC Color reported that González and Mora will first be held for 15 days at the Agrupación Especializada, a police detention unit in Asunción, and Caballero at a women’s detention department. Última Hora, a Paraguayan newspaper, reported on 13 November that Peña was due to give a further statement (indagatoria) to prosecutors on Saturday 14 November before midday.
We found no later hearing date. Our earlier reports cover the prosecutors added to the Ueno Bank and Peña teams and Peña’s pretrial detention.
More is on our Paraguay news page.
What Is Not Known
No reply from Peña, Carvallo or the other suspects was found in the reports of 13 November. It is also not known whether the defence will appeal the detention orders.
No next hearing date has been published in the reports of 13 November. RCC reported that the legal classifications are provisional, and El Mostrador that the case is still in its preparatory stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is criminal association?
It is a charge that several people formed an organised group to commit offences together. Prosecutors allege it here, and no court has ruled on it.
Is Santiago Peña convicted?
No. Paraguay’s Ministerio Público has charged him, and he keeps the presumption of innocence. The case is in its preparatory stage, El Mostrador reported on 13 November 2026.
What did prosecutors and the judge decide on detention?
They asked for detention for one new defendant and house arrest for two others, but judge Humberto Otazú ordered detention for all three, ABC Color reported on 13 November 2026. They also asked for an asset ban, frozen accounts and six more months, RCC reported.
Sources: Ministerio Público of Paraguay (new charges of 13 November 2026, as reported by the outlets below); RCC (Paraguayan broadcaster), 13 November 2026; El Mostrador (Chilean news site), 13 November 2026; ABC Color (Paraguayan newspaper), 13 November 2026.
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