October 05, 2017 - 10:47 AM
BOSTON - The president of a Massachusetts mortgage company has pleaded guilty in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud.
The U.S. attorney's office says 68-year-old Robert Pena, of Falmouth, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and six counts of wire fraud on Wednesday. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5.
Pena acknowledged his misconduct at the helm of Mortgage Security Inc.
Prosecutors say the company was supposed to service loans, then send payments on to the government-backed mortgage enterprise Ginnie Mae.
Instead, Pena took money that borrowers sent in to pay off their mortgages, or which were supposed to go into escrow accounts or mortgage insurance premiums. He then made false reports to Ginnie Mae about the status of the loans.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017