Paraguay President Impeached, Placed Under House Arrest Over Bank Scandal

Ousted Paraguayan President Santiago Pena was placed under house arrest Friday on suspicion of breach of trust, shortly after the Senate removed him from office over the collapse of a major bank tied to his government.All 44 senators present voted to remove Pena for misconduct in office, making him the second Paraguayan president ousted by impeachment since the country returned to democracy in 1989.

The verdict came three days after regulators took over Ueno Bank, locking nearly half of Paraguay's more than 6 million people out of their savings and bank cards and setting off the country's worst political crisis in more than a decade.Prosecutors ordered that Pena be held at his home until he appears before their economic crimes unit Saturday."We have confirmed that he is present and has himself available to the authorities for all legal proceedings," said Silvia González, one of the prosecutors leading the case.