The scheme known as the “promissory note mafia” has already claimed about 17,000 victims in Paraguay. The fraud consists of using the same credit instrument repeatedly to collect debts that have already been paid, with the complicity of justices of the peace, court clerks and bailiffs. Enforcement actions usually target the salaries of public employees through automatic deductions.
On Monday, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill that requires original documents to be filed with the courts and returned to the debtor after payment, but only for cases that have gone to court. Lawmakers are now preparing to vote on the other side of the problem: the return of promissory notes in non‑judicial situations.
The new text, which has already received half approval from the Senate, sets a maximum deadline of five business days for the creditor to return the document to the debtor. “It establishes a penalty of 20% of the total debt chargeable to the creditor when they fail to hand over the promissory note,” explained Deputy Néstor Castellano (ANR-HC).
Castellano described the tactics used to withhold the papers: “Our compatriots go to a dealership and hear that the promissory note is in the credit department, then in the treasury, then at the notary’s office… an endless string of excuses that make the poor Paraguayan give up on claiming it.” The document is then reused by criminal groups for new fraudulent collections.
Voting on the details of the bill was postponed to Tuesday, 26 May, at the request of Cartist bench leader Miguel Del Puerto, who cited the intention to make small, as yet unspecified, changes. If amendments are made, the text will return to the Senate for a third reading.