Former German Spy Chief Arrested on Treason Charges
August Hanning, ex-head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, is accused of passing state secrets to a foreign power.
A former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service, August Hanning, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of treason and espionage for allegedly passing state secrets to a foreign intelligence service. The federal prosecutor’s office announced the charges against Hanning, who led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005.
Hanning, 80, was apprehended in southern Germany. Also arrested was a former aide, identified as Manfred D., who is charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage. The prosecutor's office stated that Manfred D. served as Hanning’s chief of staff and later held the same position for subsequent BND presidents from 2012 until 2026, granting him access to confidential information.
Investigators believe the two men conspired starting in 2010, with Manfred D. allegedly supplying Hanning with classified intelligence from the BND in exchange for payment. According to the prosecutor's office, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many containing information designated for internal BND use, particularly for executive intelligence briefings.
The indictment alleges that Hanning utilized this information in his private consulting work. On one occasion, he is accused of drafting an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service using the classified material. The prosecutor's office indicated that Hanning was in close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service for several years, to whom he conveyed political information, partly derived from the documents provided by Manfred D.
The specific country or foreign intelligence service involved has not been disclosed, and it remains undetermined whether the information reached its intended recipient. Searches were conducted at the premises of both suspects.
The investigation leading to these arrests originated from evidence discovered during a search of Hanning's residence in connection with a separate inquiry. This inquiry pertains to the alleged involvement of Hanning and a retired official from the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office in a contract to abduct the children of Hamburg businesswoman Christina Block in 2022, while they were employed by a security firm. The Block family is well-known for their Block House steakhouse chain.
