Mass. unemployment rate drops to 4.4% in March

THE REGION

The Massachusetts unemployment rate declined nearly a full percentage point to 4.4 percent in March, its lowest level in more than five years, as the number of unemployed residents plunged by nearly 32,000. The decline, from 5.3 percent in February, is based on data adjusted to account for seasonal employment variations. But the findings could be revised again when more complete numbers are available from wider sampling, said Elliott Winer, chief economist at the state Department of Workforce Development. A separate survey of employers found the state added 7,200 jobs in January, with the education and health services sectors posting the biggest gains. (AP)

American Realty Advisors of California has bought Waltham Corporate Center, a first-class office complex, for $106 million from The Beal Cos. LLC of Boston and Rockwood Capital LLC of Greenwich, Conn. Sale of the 292,825-square-foot property closed last week. Waltham Corporate Center was built in 2000 and consists of three buildings and an 880-car parking garage, all on Route 128. The complex is the site of Massachusetts General Hospital's west campus and Keyspan Energy's northeast headquarters. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)

Boston lawyer Cheryl M. Cronin is leaving the law firm Brown Rudnick Berlack Israels , where she has been a partner for five years, to establish her own boutique firm. Cronin, who is active in legal and political circles, has represented clients including Bechtel, former governor Jane M. Swift, and former house speaker Thomas M. Finneran. She has also been a fund-raiser and strategist for the political campaigns of Deval Patrick and Chris Gabrieli. In her solo practice, which she will launch in May, Cronin will continue representing clients before government agencies. (Sacha Pfeiffer)

Insurance Commissioner Nonnie S. Burnes gave hope to automobile insurers that want her to approve a system for apportioning among companies those drivers that no firm wants to insure voluntarily. Burnes yesterday approved the rules for the new system but ordered revisions to one provision dealing with drivers who have had clean records for three years. She said she would decide whether to implement the overall system once she receives the new language in 30 days. (Bruce Mohl)

THE NATION

Chrysler Group will begin selling two Dodge vehicles in China as it tries to increase its presence in the world's fastest-growing automotive market, the company is expected to reveal today at the Shanghai Auto Show. The Caravan minivan would go on sale there in toward the end of this year, and the Caliber small sport utility vehicle would go on sale in the first quarter of 2008. When the vehicles go on sale, it will be the first time that Dodges have been sold in China since the World War II era, the company said. The automaker sold about 207,000 vehicles outside of the United States last year but only about 10,000 in China. (AP)

A US employee of ING Financial Services was arrested on charges of federal wire fraud for his role in a scheme to embezzle client dividend payments, prosecutors said. Bernard Santos, 34, had been employed at ING Financial, a unit of ING, as a corporate actions clerk and was responsible for distribution of stock dividends to corporate clients, according to court documents. Prosecutors charge that, from about October 2005 through September 2006, Santos created fake client e-mails that requested payment of particular stock dividends, then transferred dividend payments to a bank account he controlled. (Reuters)

The Justice Department joined lawsuits against Hewlett-Packard Co., Accenture Ltd., and Sun Microsystems Inc., claiming the companies made improper payments to alliance partners on government contracts. The suits, originally filed in US District Court in Little Rock, Ark., allege the three companies submitted false claims to the government for technology contracts from the late 1990s to the present. The lawsuits were first filed in September 2004 under the so-called whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. (Bloomberg)

(Correction: Because of incomplete information provided to the Globe in a press release, a Business in Brief item in the April 20 Business section said The Beal Cos. LLC of Boston and Rockwood Capital LLC of Greenwich, Conn., sold Waltham Corporate Center in its entirety to American Realty Advisors of California. Beal Cos. maintained its position as minority owner and property manager through a different ownership unit.)