LA PAZ (Reuters) – Bolivia’s government took control of one of the country’s largest banks, Banco Fassil, a senior government financial official said on Wednesday, and police arrested several executives for alleged mismanagement.
“Mismanagement, unhealthy practices have caused a crisis,” the executive director of Bolivia’s Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI), Reynaldo Yujra, told reporters in the city of Santa Cruz.
Dozens of police were stationed at Banco Fassil’s 185 branches across Bolivia on Wednesday, authorities said.
Banco Fassil President Ricardo Mertens, General Manager Jorge Arturo Chávez and another executive, Hernan Suarez, were arrested late Tuesday, while a fourth, Hermes Saucedo, turned himself in early Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Cruz attorney general’s office.
The executives were charged with financial crimes. Reuters was not immediately able to request comment from the detained executives, who are in Santa Cruz, or able to identify their lawyers.
Yujra said the bank’s troubles reflected an isolated incident.
“The financial system in general is in good health. It is strong, robust and very reliable,” said Yujra.
In several cities, clients were seen crowding at bank branches demanding their savings. Client deposits total some $2.7 billion, according to data from Bolivia’s economy ministry.
Bolivian law protects some deposits in the event of a bank takeover and outlines a process for transferring Banco Fassil’s assets and liabilities to other financial entities responsible for returning deposits and collecting credits.
Wednesday’s event comes weeks after some dollar shortages at currency exchanges sparked nationwide panic over falling reserves and a possible run on banks.
(Reporting by Daniel Ramos; Editing by David Gregorio)
