Former German spy chief arrested over treason, espionage allegations

Former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning has been arrested on allegations of treason, espionage and passing highly classified military and political information to a foreign power, according to the country’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

The information was reported by the BBC.

Hanning headed the BND, Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, from 1998 to 2005. After his retirement, he worked as a security adviser at a private company.

He was arrested at his home in Nordwalde on Tuesday. Police also arrested another former senior BND official, identified as Manfred D, at a location in Bavaria on the same day.

Prosecutors allege that Manfred D handed nearly 2,000 highly classified and internal BND documents to Hanning in exchange for money.

Hanning allegedly used the documents to prepare classified analytical reports for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. He is also accused of maintaining close contact with a representative of another foreign agency and passing sensitive political information over several years.

Authorities have not disclosed which foreign countries or intelligence agencies were allegedly involved, citing the ongoing investigation.

Police reportedly recovered the BND documents from an electronic storage device during an investigation into a family dispute and kidnapping case in Germany. Hanning’s alleged involvement came to light following the discovery.

In 2023, another senior BND official, identified as Carsten L, was charged with treason over allegations of passing classified military information related to the war in Ukraine to Russia.