Auditors take aim at German Neo-Nazis

BERLIN, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Germany's Neo-Nazi party is being investigated for fraud after allegedly cheating the government out of matching political funds.

A report Thursday in Der Spiegel said leaders of the ultra-right National Democratic Party blasted the former chairman of a local chapter for allegedly cooking the books kin order to inflate its claim to matching government funds.

The magazine said a pre-Christmas letter to NPD members in Schleswig-Holstein warned the alleged manipulation could spell disaster for the entire party by bringing the NPD into the sites of federal authorities.

German law prevents an outright ban on the NPD. However, government auditors are expected to give the NPD finances a thorough examination, which Der Spiegel said could potentially cost the party "hundreds of thousands of euros" in subsidies it would have to pay back.

NPD officials have denied the allegations.