More than 130 suspected Nazi war criminals, SS guards and others who might have participated in the Third Reich’s atrocities during World War II collected US$20.2 million in retirement benefits, according to the US Social Security Administration’s inspector general.
In a report to be released this week and obtained by The Associated Press, the inspector general said nearly a quarter of the total, US$5.7 million, went to individuals who were found to have played a role in the Nazi persecution and had been deported.
More than US$14 million was paid to people who were not deported, but were alleged or found to have assisted the Nazis during World War II.
The report comes seven months after a probe revealed that benefits were paid to former Nazis after they were forced out of the US.
The US Department of Justice used a legal loophole to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the US in exchange for social security benefits, the report said, adding that if they went voluntarily, or simply fled the country before being deported, they could keep their benefits.
The US Congress passed legislation to close the loophole and bar Nazi suspects from receiving benefits. US President Barack Obama signed the measure late last year.
US Representative Carolyn Maloney asked that the inspector general look into the scope of the payments after the investigation.
“This report is another reminder that we must never forget the atrocities committed by the Nazis,” Maloney said on Saturday in an e-mailed statement. “According to this report, 133 alleged and confirmed Nazis actively worked to conceal their true identities from our government and received millions of dollars in social security payments.”
The Social Security Administration last year refused to provide the total number of Nazi suspects who received benefits and the dollar amounts.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of