First of all NO PRE-EXISTING ACCOUNTS will be part of the closed beta. During the closed beta you will create throw-away accounts. That's the purpose of closed beta.
So this topic is one we will come back to later on, before Open Beta, but at the moment we are trying to allow players to reclaim "lost and found" items as part of the Open Beta (maybe in the "San Paro Lost and Found Department?").
Not all details are finalized for this (since it's really not part of the first beta) - but a few things are pretty clear at this point, and I am happy to share them (though it's possible some will have to be modified down the line);
* YES - we plan on letting players of the original APB game reclaim the original content (ie characters etc.) that existed at the time the game shut down, since that data is considered "game content." This would give you most (if not all) customizations, gear, and character names back that you had during the first run of the game.
* NO - we are likely to NOT give you back all the progression data (though some, but this particular point will be explained in much more detail before Open Beta since part of the changes to the game itself relate to progression).
* YES - you will need to create a NEW user account (a G1 account that is) before you can reclaim your characters, which means you have to basically sign up and agree to the new terms of service that govern the use of all G1 accounts (ie your old RTW account cannot sign you in to the game or anything else)
* NO - we will NOT have any of your original payment data on our side, and therefore you also will have no RTW points or cash-equivalent credits. We simply have no information about anything you bought via EA, Digital River nor Steam. So we will have no idea what you did or did not purchase back during the original run of the game. No point in asking us. We simply don't know. If you tell us you spent a bizillion dollars we might feel really sorry for you. And the best sad story might very well win you some sympathy and recognition from our development team. But we simply don't have the data (nor the money) from whatever happened back then. Remember, that company simply does not exist any longer. I know I am going to have to repeat this information many times 
* and finally it's LIKELY - that you will be able to "patch-up" to the new game from the original installation. This gets a little bit tricky due to how patching is handled - but it at least appears plausible. Therefore, at least keep any old installations of the game around if you have the space on your drive, since it will save you a lot of content download time. However, we will get back to you before launch to verify this last part.