Arrested Paraguayan President’s Mystery ‘Israeli’ Vault Found Empty

Paraguayan prosecutors announced on Tuesday that officials finally managed to open the mysterious vault located inside the vacation home of former President Santiago Peña but found nothing inside the hidden and highly secured empty room.

President Peña was impeached and removed from office last week amid the ongoing scandal surrounding the collapse of Ueno Bank, a large digital financial institution in Paraguay described as one of the largest banks in the country, with nearly three million clients. The Paraguayan Central bank seized Ueno Bank this month and found evidence that it had breached minimum solvency requirements.

The Central Bank froze the bank’s assets to assess the institution’s situation — an action that left millions of Paraguayans unable to access their funds, triggering a wave of protests in the capital city of Asunción. Peña has been accused of being involved in the collapse of the bank, with reports claiming that the collapse of the institution is allegedly tied to loans issued to the former president, his family, and associates. The former president reportedly remains under preventive detention at a military barracks in the Paraguayan capital, potentially facing up to 15 years in prison if found guilty.

As part of the investigations into Peña over the Ueno Bank case, police officers and Paraguayan authorities raided Peña’s vacation home over the weekend. The house was reportedly financed through a roughly $560,000 loan from the now-collapsed bank. According to local outlets, Peña has paid about 239 million Paraguayan guaraníes (roughly $38,000) in monthly payments on the loan, an amount six times the nation’s presidential salary.

During the raid, a mysterious vault was found by the officials behind a fake wall leading down to a corridor. Although authorities managed to open the vault’s first door, their progress was hampered after they could not open a second door behind it. According to reports, the vault is presumptively of Israeli origin and features iris recognition technology.

Efforts to open the vault nevertheless continued in the following days until the vault was finally fully opened on Tuesday. However, authorities found no cash or valuable items inside the completely empty room.

Per the Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color, Prosecutor Silvia González explained that former President Peña, through his lawyer, disclosed the location of the key required to open the vault’s second door. The former president’s legal team affirmed that the room is not a “vault” but, rather, a “panic room.”

The Paraguayan Public Prosecutor’s Office reportedly shared footage of the opened room with local and international outlets.

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Sources from the prosecution confirmed to ABC Color that the vacation house is now under the control of the National Secretariat for the Administration of Seized and Confiscated Assets (SENABICO) and placed under military custody.

SENABICO head Teresa Rojas explained on Wednesday morning that the institution is carrying out an inventory of the seized vacation home and will soon put it available for rent in accordance with the secretariat’s guidelines. Rojas also said a series of high-end vehicles seized from Ueno Bank’s CEO Miguel Vázquez will be put on sale.

Speaking with the radio station Universo 970AM, Rojas detailed that, as of Wednesday morning, Peña’s vacation home is the only property that has been seized from the former president. She explained that the house was found “fully equipped” and the bedrooms and bathrooms were “intact,” dismissing claims that the residence had been “emptied” during the raid.

With regard to any found documentation or objects of relevance to the investigation, Rojas explained that those are matters that correspond to the prosecution, and not her office.

“Now, as for other things, like I already told you, documents, money, jewelry, or whatever might have been there — no, nothing,” Rojas told Universo 970AM. “We didn’t find any of that.”

Referring to the empty “vault,” Rojas acknowledged that it was very difficult to open, but, after it was finally opened, the room “seemed like a Panic Room.”

“It had two exhaust fans and nothing else. Two exhaust fans that were already installed and, let’s say, in place. And nothing else,” she explained. “There was absolutely nothing inside.”

According to Rojas, the inventory process of the home should conclude this week. After that, she further explained, the property will be appraised to determine a base rental price, “and then we’ll start receiving offers based on that.”

“The rental listing could be posted on our social media as early as next week,” Rojas said.

Although Peña presented his resignation, the Paraguayan Congress rejected it and continued with an impeachment process that ultimately saw the former president officially removed from office on November 6.

Paraguayan lawmakers rejected his resignation on grounds that, as stated in the nation’s constitution, any president who resigns or finishes his or her term is granted a special and lifetime Senate seat — alongside its corresponding parliamentary immunity. In contrast, an impeached president is not granted the special prerogative and is thus subject to impeachment.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.