BOSTON – The president and founder of a Falmouth mortgage company pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston in connection with defrauding the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) out of approximately $2.5 million.

Robert Pena, 68, of Falmouth, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and six counts of wire fraud.  U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf scheduled sentencing for Jan. 5, 2018.

Pena was president and founder of the now-defunct mortgage company, Mortgage Security Inc. (MSI), which contracted with Ginnie Mae, a government-run corporation charged with making housing more affordable by injecting capital into the U.S. housing market. Ginnie Mae guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest to investors in bonds backed by government-sponsored mortgage loans, such as those offered by the Federal Housing Administration and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs...