Paraguay’s banking superintendent arrested in the Ueno Bank investigation

BREAKING: Paraguay's banking superintendent Holger Insfran arrested over the collapse of Ueno Bank, after former President Santiago Pena and the ex-central bank chief were placed in pre-trial detention in the same investigation.

Paraguay has now arrested the man whose job was to supervise its banks.

Holger Insfran, the Superintendent of Banks, was detained on Thursday in the Ueno Bank investigation. His office, part of the Central Bank, regulated the very institution that collapsed. The charges against him have not been disclosed.

He joins former President Santiago Pena, who was removed by the Senate on November 6 and now sits in pre-trial detention, charged with breach of trust and self-serving administration, facing up to 15 years. He says he is innocent. Former Central Bank chief Carlos Carvallo is detained too. Prosecutors say Ueno took in large amounts of public money during Pena's term, including from five pension funds, while lending irregularly to companies owned by its own shareholders, the Vazquez Group.

The bank had 2.94 million customers. The state guarantee covers roughly 36,600 dollars per person, and repayments must finish by Monday. A former president, a central bank chief and the chief regulator, all behind bars over one bank.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.