Santiago Peña testifies to the Paraguayan court after impeachment and house arrest

The former president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, arrived at the Attorney General's Office this Saturday (7) to give a statement to prosecutors, one day after being impeached and placed under house arrest. Until the last update of this report, there was no information about what was said in the statement.

The testimony takes place in the midst of a political and financial crisis triggered by the collapse of the digital financial institution ueno.

Prosecutors said on Friday that the charges against Peña were still being defined, but could include influence peddling.

The former president of Paraguay Santiago Peña was transferred to a military installation in the early hours of Friday to Saturday (7), hours after being impeached and having house arrest ordered.

The former president was taken to the Regimiento Escolta Presidencial (REP), a military installation in Asunción used to protect the Paraguayan president and his family, as well as foreign authorities during official visits. The REP is as if it were an elite Armed Forces barracks in the Paraguayan capital, not a prison.

The movement took place on Friday night, just before midnight, according to the Paraguayan newspaper "ABC". The transfer of Peña, who is under house arrest, took place for security reasons, because a crowd protested in front of his house demanding that he be taken to prison and there was a confrontation with the police. His caravan left the place amidst curses and ovations.

Peña was impeached and removed from the presidency on Friday afternoon, and soon after he was arrested for his involvement in the ueno bank scandal — which collapsed and caused an economic and political crisis in Paraguay. The president of the Central Bank and other authorities in the country also resigned amid the crisis.

Peña's vice president, Pedro Alliana, took office as the new Paraguayan president on Friday.

The former Paraguayan president is named as one of the partners of the ueno controlling group and is being investigated on suspicion of fraudulent management and other crimes related to the scandal. He will appear before a federal prosecutor's office this Saturday, at 11 am Brasília time, as part of the investigation against him.

According to the Paraguayan Public Ministry, Peña's arrest was ordered on suspicion of the following crimes:

Injury to trust;

Influence trafficking;

Administration for personal benefit.

Peña denied having committed these crimes. The Paraguayan MP must still determine the specific facts and circumstances of each criminal accusation.