Ramón González Daher and His Son Complete Four Years of Historic Usury Sentences

Ramón González Daher and his son, Fernando González Karjallo, have completed another year behind bars after receiving historic sentences in Paraguay’s major usury case.

González Daher is serving 15 years in prison, while his son received a five-year sentence. The convictions covered serious usury, money laundering and false reporting in the father’s case, and laundering assets derived from usury in his son’s case.

They entered the former Tacumbú National Penitentiary on Sept. 7, 2022, after Paraguay’s Supreme Court rejected the final appeal filed by their defenses. The specialized economic-crimes court had issued the ruling on Dec. 17, 2021.

The pair spent just over a year in Tacumbú. They were moved to the regional prison in Coronel Oviedo during Operation Veneratio on Dec. 18, 2023, and later transferred to the Esperanza Industrial Penitentiary on Jan. 28, 2025. On July 2, they were moved again, this time to the maximum-security unit of the Martín Mendoza Social Reintegration Penitentiary in Emboscada.

The defense challenged the latest transfer, but enforcement judge Sandra Kirchhofer found no irregularity in the Justice Ministry’s decision. During the trial, prosecutors and an associated private complainant presented evidence that the González Daher clan issued predatory loans to at least 156 people between 2014 and 2019. The court also found that several businesses went bankrupt after they could no longer repay loans carrying interest on top of accumulated interest.