Claim: Neo-Nazi Party self-destructing

BERLIN, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Germany's far-right National Democratic Party is collapsing after a series of problems including the arrest of its national treasurer, a published report said.

The NDP official, Erwin Kemna, was arrested Thursday in Munster on suspicion of embezzling 627,000 euros ($913,000) since 2004, Der Spiegel reported. Following the arrest, police raided the organization's national headquarters in Berlin.

If convicted, Kemna could be sentenced to 10 years in prison, the newspaper said.

The arrest comes as the NDP faces serious financial difficulties and federal investigations, the report said.

Der Spiegel said it recently obtained internal documents that revealed the party did not have "enough membership revenue and only a few financial backers."

The party's future is also clouded by a proposal by German government officials to cut off public funding to organizations that follow the party's neo-Nazi line.

German newspapers Friday carried speculation that the NPD could go out of business without being banned -- simply because of the growing weight of its own internal problems.