BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

Valley companies to pay $414,000

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Two related Woodland Hills companies have agreed to more than $414,000 in restitution to 28 borrowers as part of a settlement of a probe into what Nevada officials termed an equity-stripping scheme that targeted Hispanic property buyers.

Under terms of the settlement with Solomon Capital LLC and XBancorp, the companies also will pay $65,000 in investigative costs and attorney fees. Solomon Capital is headed by Jonathan Graham and XBancorp is headed by Mitchell Grod.

Scott Bice, state Mortgage Lending Division commissioner, said Wednesday the settlement followed an 11-month investigation into the companies' business practices that would ultimately lead to foreclosure proceedings.

``These companies devised a scheme to take advantage of Nevada citizens using a Spanish-speaking interpreter to defraud these individuals,'' Bice said, adding that the activity was ``a classic case of predatory and deceptive mortgage lending practices.''

Televisa to sell Univision shares

MEXICO CITY -- Grupo Televisa said Wednesday that it will not roll over its 11.4 percent stake in Univision Communications Inc. to a consortium of private-equity investors who beat out the Mexican broadcaster's bid for the Los Angeles-based Spanish-language network.

In a news release, Televisa said the sale of its shares would allow it to find new business opportunities in the expanding U.S. Hispanic market that exclude Univision.

Last week, Univision announced it had accepted an offer from a group of investors, headed by billionaire Haim Saban, which bid $36.25 a share for the company. The group will pay $12.3 billion and assume $1.4 billion in debt.

Shareholders sue Apple Computer

CUPERTINO -- Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday that two lawsuits have been filed against its current and former officers and directors relating to stock-options grants.

The derivative lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Derivative lawsuits are filed by shareholders claiming to act on behalf of the company.

Last week, Apple said it found irregularities in the way it issued stock-option grants, and was conducting an independent investigation. One of the grants, later canceled, was to CEO Steve Jobs.

Katz new CEO for LeapFrog Inc.

NEW YORK -- Educational toy maker LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. on Wednesday said it named Jeffrey Katz as chief executive and president.

He succeeds Tom Kalinske, who will remain vice chairman.

Katz, who has served on LeapFrog's board for a year, was the founding chairman and CEO of travel Web site Orbitz LLC, a unit of Cendant Corp. LeapFrog, which is based in Emeryville, has undergone a series of top management changes, the most recent being the resignation in February of President Jerome Perez.

Oil prices jump to record level

WASHINGTON -- Oil prices jumped to a record above $75 a barrel Wednesday, propelled by a rally in gasoline that analysts said could send average U.S. pump prices past $3 a gallon by the weekend.

Recent snags in oil shipping and refining along the Gulf Coast have raised traders' concerns about motor-fuel supplies at a time when demand continues to rise despite soaring prices. The start of a new fiscal quarter also has brought more speculative money into the market, brokers said.