INSURANCE

Businessman Pleads Guilty in $3.78-Million Fraud: A Santa Barbara businessman pleaded guilty to fraud connected with the failure of two California title companies that he formerly headed, Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush announced. Devin Charles Park, 36, admitted to illegally converting to his own use some $3.13 million in escrow funds deposited in the companies, Trico Title Co. and Homestead Title Co., which were seized last summer by the state Insurance Department. Another $650,000 may have been lost through a related fraud, Quackenbush said. Park, who is to be sentenced April 10, faces a maximum of 45 years in prison, a $1.5-million fine and restitution to his victims.