Vice President Pedro Alliana is sworn in to serve until August 2028

Ousted Paraguayan President Santiago Peña appeared before prosecutors on Saturday morning as a trial against him proceeded, a day after the country’s Senate unanimously found him guilty of malfeasance in office and prosecutors placed him under house arrest after the collapse of Ueno Bank, a prominent U.S.-owned lender with ties to Paraguay’s government.

Ueno Bank, a digital lender, served about 3 million customers, more than half of Paraguay’s adult population. Peña was one of Washington’s closest allies in the region and a shareholder in the bank. The collapse has left millions of people across the country without access to their money.

Peña was known as a pro-market leader focused on making it easier to do business in Paraguay, but legislators said he jeopardized state assets and benefitted himself through his connection to the bank. Peña has denied any wrongdoing.

Paraguay’s central bank said it seized control of Ueno Bank on Tuesday because the lender’s solvency ratio, an assessment of a company’s long-term financial viability, no longer met legal standards. Protests erupted across Asunción, the country’s capital, following the seizure.

Peña announced his resignation on Thursday, but lawmakers refused to accept it and instead moved forward with the country’s impeachment process.

At proceedings inside the Senate on Friday, legislators unanimously found Peña guilty of malfeasance in office, according to the Senate’s website. Prosecutors then accused him of a breach of trust, among other charges, before placing him under house arrest.

“I want to apologize to the Paraguayan people if I have failed you,” Peña said in a speech posted to social media.

Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as president on Friday to serve out the rest of Peña’s term, which runs until August 2028. In a speech the same day, Alliana announced he would take action to compensate people whose money was lost in the bank’s collapse.

Ueno Bank previously said more than a million people opened bank accounts for the first time using its services, which included generous cash back offers on groceries.

The last Paraguayan president ousted from office was Fernando Lugo, in 2012.