Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office has announced the arrest of August Hanning, the former head of the country's foreign intelligence agency, on suspicion of treason, espionage, and obtaining classified information for a foreign power. Hanning, who led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005 and subsequently worked as a private consultant, was arrested by police at his home in Nordwalde, near Münster, on Tuesday. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Wednesday.
In a coordinated operation, authorities also arrested Manfred D, a former BND employee accused of supplying Hanning with highly sensitive information. Manfred D, arrested in Bavaria, served as Hanning's bureau chief and later as chief of staff for Hanning's successors between 2012 and 2026, remaining with the agency until earlier this year. He faces charges of aiding and abetting attempted treason as well as treasonous espionage, and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
According to federal prosecutors, Manfred D exploited his senior position within the BND to access highly confidential internal documents, which he then allegedly passed to Hanning "in exchange for remuneration." Investigators believe that over several years, Manfred D provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which were classified and intended strictly for the intelligence service's internal use.
The prosecution alleges that Hanning used this classified material to "draft an analysis" for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. However, prosecutors noted that it remains unclear whether this specific analysis actually reached its intended recipient. Additionally, Hanning is accused of maintaining close contact with a representative of a second foreign intelligence service, to whom he allegedly passed political information over several years, partially utilizing the documents obtained from Manfred D. The identities of the foreign powers involved in these exchanges have not been disclosed by investigators.
The investigation into Hanning's possession of the classified documents reportedly emerged from an unrelated criminal inquiry involving Christina Block, a German steakhouse heiress. Block was accused by the Hamburg public prosecutor's office of orchestrating the 2023 kidnapping of her two youngest children amidst a bitter custody dispute. During that investigation, state criminal police officers uncovered an electronic data storage device containing sensitive files, including recent BND documents. Investigators have alleged that Hanning was involved in an earlier, separate attempted kidnapping of Block's children, an accusation that Hanning has denied.
This high-profile arrest marks another major security scandal for the BND. In 2023, Carsten L, a high-ranking German intelligence officer, was charged with treason after being accused of passing state secrets regarding the war in Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group to Russia. Prosecutors in that case alleged he received approximately €400,000 ($450,000; £340,000) for the information. His trial is currently ongoing.
