By Priya Raman

Ueno Bank was declared insolvent and undercapitalized, freezing the savings of almost 3 million clients as a vehicle collection linked to its controlling shareholder was valued at more than US$11.6 million.

Regulators intervened at the bank last week, declaring it insolvent and undercapitalized and imposing a “corralito,” an emergency restriction on withdrawals. ABC Color reviewed the inventory and supporting details of assets held by Grupo Vázquez, the bank’s controlling shareholder.

As of September 30, 2026, the inventory showed Grupo Vázquez with nearly 40 vehicles valued at more than US$3 million in its name. Adding a second fleet already seized by the Prosecutor’s Office took the related vehicle total above US$11.6 million.

Mercedes-Benz, Bentley, Audi and Land Rover cars formed the core of the collection, which ABC Color described as the businessman’s “toys.” Many were imported from the United States and then sent to Brazil to be armored, the newspaper reported.

What did Ueno Bank control?

Ueno Bank once served more than 2.9 million clients in Paraguay, a country with just over 6 million inhabitants. Its deposits reached roughly 17 trillion guaraníes, equivalent to US$2.8 billion, including hundreds of millions in deposits from the public sector.

That scale made the lender a national banking heavyweight before its collapse. “Undercapitalized” means it held too little capital to absorb losses; “insolvent” means its liabilities exceeded its assets. Those definitions explain the emergency withdrawal restrictions and the extraordinary refund process that followed.

Who controls Grupo Vázquez?

Federico Miguel Vázquez, the bank’s former CEO and Grupo Vázquez’s 36-year-old main shareholder, is the businessman the report calls Miguel Vázquez. ABC Color described him as a millennial banker, fitness fanatic and heir to a business group built on family enterprises.

Grupo Vázquez, one of Paraguay’s fastest-expanding business groups in recent years, controls more than 20 companies across financial services, technology, agribusiness, real estate, entertainment and media. Vázquez aspired to turn Ueno Bank into Paraguay’s first “unicorn,” a term for a company with a stock-market value of US$1 billion.

What did the luxury fleet contain?

ABC Color’s Wednesday report highlighted eight high-value models from the collection:

• Audi RS Q8 — US$234,000.
• Mercedes-Benz G580 — US$225,000.
• Audi e-tron GT RS — US$186,000.
• Rolls-Royce Phantom (2016) — US$184,488, according to the invoice.
• Lexus LX 500D (2023) — US$178,200.
• Land Rover Defender — US$174,000 each.
• Lexus LX 700H hybrid (2026) — US$171,000.
• Toyota Land Cruiser VX 300 GR — US$165,000.

The cars represent only a fraction of Vázquez’s holdings. The wider list also includes two aircraft, boats, motorcycles and golf carts, plus a Miami apartment valued at US$10 million, ABC Color reported.

Who bears the fallout?

The central bank began refunding Ueno clients last Thursday after Congress approved a law directing the monetary authority to pay up to 122 million guaraníes per depositor within five days. The payment sits within the Deposit Guarantee Fund’s coverage limit of 228.3 million guaraníes per person.

The bank’s collapse also triggered political consequences. Congress removed former President Santiago Peña, who had business ties to Ueno’s controlling shareholder, while former central bank president Carlos Carvallo and two other board members left their positions.

Peña is in preventive detention, meaning he remains in custody before trial, after prosecutors accused him of breach of trust and illicit enrichment over his alleged role in the collapse.

The numbers create a stark scale contrast: Ueno held about US$2.8 billion in deposits, while the controlling shareholder’s disclosed vehicle holdings exceeded US$11.6 million and his wider list included a US$10 million Miami apartment. The inventory does not prove that depositors’ money financed those assets, but it concentrates scrutiny on private wealth, political connections and the management of public savings.