A British government plan to return money belonging to Nazi victims has gone way over budget.
The Enemy Property Claims Assessment Panel, or Epcap, was set up to help people whose British bank accounts were frozen during World War II because they lived in “enemy countries.” Though the program, started by the British government in 1999, was scheduled to end operations in 2004, it is still receiving applications and distributing money, the BBC has reported.
Epcap recently paid “a six-figure sum” to a woman whose Jewish grandfather’s savings were frozen, according to the BBC.
Epcap chairman Lord Archer of Sandwell told the BBC that the panel went out of its way to compensate the families of Holocaust victims. The British government originally allocated $4 million to honor the claims; but so far it has paid out $43.9 million to about 400 claimants.
The panel still receives about 20 new claims a year.
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