State Settles Long-Lost RISDICDebt

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - (02/22/05) -- State authorities agreed Monday toaccept a $6.5 million payment from a local developer to settle someof his outstanding debts from the RISDIC failure. The deal willallow James Procaccianti and his Procaccianti Group to buy theWestin Hotel complex from the state and proceed with amulti-million dollar renovation project in the downtown.Procaccianti owed $15 million--now $25 million with interest--toMarquette CU one of 45 credit unions and banks that were taken overafter the failure of their private deposit insurer, R.I. Share andIndemnity Corp., in 1990. The balance of the unpaid Procacciantiloans are now uncollectable because the statute of limitations hasexpired on those debts, state auditors ruled. The state was allowedto collect on one $3 million Marquette CU loan, which has grown to$6.5 million since then. Procaccianti has agreed to make an initialpayment of $750,000 on Tuesday, and the remaining $5.7 million onThursday.