Former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), August Hanning, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of espionage, treason and unlawfully obtaining classified information for a foreign power, prosecutors said.
Hanning ran the BND from 1998 to 2005 before moving into private consulting. Prosecutors claim he used confidential BND materials to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service and kept close contact with another spying agency. The identities of the foreign powers have not yet been disclosed.
Compounding the case, former BND employee Manfred D was detained for allegedly transferring about 2,000 classified documents to Hanning in exchange for payment. D, who had been Hanning’s bureau chief until this year, now faces charges of aiding and abetting treason and espionage.
Authorities say Hanning was taken into custody at his home in Nordwalde near Münster, while D was arrested in Bavaria. Hanning is set to appear in court on Wednesday, with D scheduled for a Tuesday hearing.
The indictment states that D leveraged his role as chief of staff for BND officials from 2012 to 2026 to gain access to highly confidential data, which he then forwarded to Hanning for remuneration. The prosecutors note that many of the 2,000 documents contained information intended solely for internal BND use.
One instance cited involved Hanning transmitting classified intelligence to a foreign officer, though it remains unclear whether the material reached its intended recipient.
Hanning is also accused of maintaining long‑term contact with a representative of yet another foreign intelligence service, passing on political information provided in part by D.
Local media report that Hanning’s possession of sensitive documents surfaced during an unrelated investigation involving German steakhouse heiress Christina Block, who was accused of orchestrating her children’s kidnapping in 2023. Hanning denies any role in that case.
During the probe, police uncovered an electronic storage device containing recent BND documents, further evidence of the breach.
This isn’t the first BND scandal. In 2023, a senior officer, Carsten L, was charged with treason for allegedly passing Ukraine war intel and Wagner Group details to Russia, reportedly receiving roughly €400,000.
Ongoing investigations underscore the fragility of Germany’s intelligence security and the heightened scrutiny over insider threats. The BND must now confront both the immediate legal fallout and the longer‑term efforts to protect national secrets.
