Nazi suspects kept receiving US social security even after being forced to leave the country

The payments gave the US Justice Department leverage to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the US

Jakob Denzinger's empty grave in Cepin eastern Croatia. Denzinger is among the number of Nazi war criminals who collected millions of dollars in US social security benefits after being forced out of America (AP)

Dozens of suspected Nazi war criminals collected millions of dollars in US social security benefits after being forced out of America, an investigation has found.

The payments gave the US Justice Department leverage to persuade Nazi suspects to leave the US, according to records obtained by the Associated Press. If they agreed to go, they could keep their social security, government records show.

There are at least four living beneficiaries. They include Jakob Denzinger, a guard at Auschwitz, who fled to Germany in 1989 and resettled in Croatia.

Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York requested the inquiry in letters sent Monday to the inspectors general at the Justice Department and Social Security Administration.

Maloney, a high-ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, called the payments a "gross misuse of taxpayer dollars."

AP