NATION : R.I. Depositors to Get Payments

Depositors at nine closed banks and credit unions will get partial payments from their accounts this week, a month after the institutions were shut down because their private deposit insurer failed.

Gov. Bruce G. Sundlun announced the plan Sunday night after about 300 angry depositors marched on the Statehouse demanding all their money immediately.

“People are suffering. These people in these ivory towers are sitting here looking out and saying, ‘Too bad,’ ” said a resident of Blackstone, Mass., who gave her name only as Janice. “I’m livid. I’m upset. I’m angry,” she said.

Sundlun’s order would give depositors up to $10,000 from checking accounts and half their savings accounts or $2,500, whichever is smaller. About $35 million will be distributed by mail to holders of 175,000 accounts, his aides said.

Sundlun closed 45 banks and credit unions in the state on New Year’s Day--his first day in office--after their private insurer failed, freezing $1.3 billion in deposits.