The National Development Bank (BNF), Paraguay’s state-owned bank, approved a G. 62 billion credit — about US$10 million — for technology company itti, part of Grupo Vázquez SAE, in July 2023, with a 10-year term and a 30-month grace period for principal payments. The transaction was later amended, even though the properties initially offered as collateral were worth less than required under the original resolution.
The financing was intended for office renovations, the purchase of furniture, ATMs, software licenses and security equipment. To release the full amount, the BNF had required a real-estate trust with minimum assets of G. 88.572 billion.
Internal documents cited in reports show that the bank’s own appraisal division valued the 14 properties submitted at G. 28.985 billion. An appraiser from fiduciary company Finexpar S.A.E.C.A., now Zeta Banco, estimated the group at G. 55.251 billion. The difference led the Commercial Area Management to propose reducing the required assets to the latter amount.
One of the plots is in Limpio and belongs to Ueno Holding S.A.E.C.A., a company in which Santiago Peña was a shareholder until April 2025. The property, appraised by the BNF at G. 14.470 billion — or G. 11.576 billion in a quick sale — has inactive quarries. An inspection recorded that they had been out of operation for approximately eight years.
In a report dated October 9, 2023, the appraisal area warned that a possible resumption of mineral extraction could devalue the land and reduce its effectiveness as collateral. The document also noted that an urbanization project mentioned in the external appraisal did not have approval recorded by the National Cadastre Service. In addition, there was no mining authorization or geological study on the operation’s productivity, costs and returns.
Despite the reservations, the BNF board approved the change in the conditions on October 11. The disbursement was divided into three stages: G. 4 billion upon the signing of a promissory note; G. 16.289 billion with proof that the registration application had been filed; and up to G. 41.710 billion after new assets were added to the trust. The company was also exempted from paying G. 62 million in administrative expenses related to the amendment.
The contract listed itti, the then-Financeira Ueno, Grupo Vázquez and Ueno Holding as the trust’s settlors. Grupo Vázquez is chaired by Federico Miguel Vázquez. At the time of the transaction, Peña was still a shareholder in Ueno Holding, although the information presented contains no indication that the president took part in the BNF’s decision.
The change occurred shortly after Peña took office, while Manuel Ochipintti was president of the bank. General manager César Vargas said that the details are protected by banking secrecy. itti is controlled by Grupo Vázquez and, in 2025, submitted to the BNF a G. 136 billion proposal for a core banking system, more than twice the credit granted in 2023.