Paraguay's senators have started examining evidence in the impeachment case against President Santiago Peña. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

The day before, he submitted his resignation amid the collapse of Ueno Bank, but Congress did not accept it. Now the Senate is considering the removal of the head of state.

At the hearings on November 6, senators voted 39 to three to reject Peña's request for another 72 hours to prepare his defense. According to the president, he received the accusation and about 300 pages of attachments less than 12 hours before the session.

"A period of less than 12 hours is clearly insufficient for the process to meet the standards of a rule-of-law state," Peña wrote in an address to the president of Congress.

Peña did not attend the session. His lawyers arrived after the hearings had already begun and stated they could challenge the procedure in Paraguay's Supreme Court.

Ueno Bank issued large loans to companies linked to its owners beyond the legal limits. The regulator found that some loans were issued with violations, and some expenses were recorded by the bank as assets. After the financial statements were adjusted, Ueno's capital turned out to be less than half of the established minimum. The Central Bank took the bank under its management.

About 3 million clients lost access to their money. Cards, transfers and the mobile app stopped working. Some clients began receiving payments on the evening of November 5 local time.

Until April 2025, Peña owned a stake in the group that includes Ueno Bank. Already as president, he appointed the former head of Ueno as head of the Central Bank, which supervised the bank. Lawmakers accuse Peña of a conflict of interest and blame him for allowing pension funds to be placed in Ueno beyond legal limits. According to Reuters, the bank held about $850 million in state funds in total.

Removing Peña requires the votes of at least 30 of the 45 senators. If the Senate makes such a decision, Peña will lose the right to a lifelong senator seat and the parliamentary immunity associated with it. Vice President Pedro Alliana will take over the presidential post until August 2028.

Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Peña publicly announced his resignation at a time when lawmakers were already discussing his impeachment.