INSURANCE

Orange County Businessman Charged With Fraud: Robert M. Granafei of Laguna Beach surrendered to authorities and was charged with running an unlicensed insurance operation that allegedly sold more than 15,000 worthless auto policies in California. Granafei, 46, was owner and chief executive of Underwriters Reserve Ltd. and related companies, which state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi said wrote about $11.2 million in premiums in less than a year. The Insurance Department seized the businesses in May, 1993. Regulators have preserved $1.87 million in company assets, including $1.5 million recovered from a Swiss bank account. Granafei has been released on $10,000 bail.