Ex-BND Chief August Hanning Arrested on Espionage Suspicion
German prosecutors say Hanning’s former chief of staff passed him about 2,000 BND documents for pay; one analysis was drafted for a foreign spy.
BERLIN — German federal police on October 6 arrested August Hanning, who led the country’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, on strong suspicion of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason and acting as an agent for a foreign intelligence service, Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office said.
A second man, identified under German privacy rules only as Manfred D., was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage. Manfred D. served as Hanning’s chief of staff at the BND and later as chief of staff to several of his successors, from March 2012 until March 2026, prosecutors said.
Hanning, 80, is the first former head of the BND to be accused of espionage, Foreign Policy reported. He has denied the allegations, according to Foreign Policy.
What prosecutors allege
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the two men agreed in the spring of 2010 that Manfred D. would continuously pass valuable BND intelligence to Hanning “in exchange for remuneration,” for use in the private consulting business Hanning had begun after leaving government.
Prosecutors said current findings suggest Manfred D. supplied about 2,000 documents over the years, many containing classified information meant exclusively for internal BND use, particularly for executive intelligence briefings. Those briefings are regular meetings at the Federal Chancellery of senior officials from federal ministries and security agencies.
The office made two further allegations:
- On one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence from Manfred D. to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. “It has yet to be determined if the material reached the intended recipient,” prosecutors said.
- For several years, Hanning was in close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service, to whom he passed political information partly based on material from Manfred D.
The prosecutor’s statement did not name either foreign service. Der Spiegel reported that investigators were pursuing a possible connection to Azerbaijan; the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on that report, Al Jazeera said.
Arrests, searches and a court appearance
Federal Criminal Police Office officers arrested the two men in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen county in Bavaria and Steinfurt county in North Rhine-Westphalia under warrants issued by the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice. Their premises there and in Berlin were searched. The suspects were to be brought before the investigating judge, who decides on pre-trial detention.
The investigation began after Hamburg prosecutors searched Hanning’s premises in September 2025 as part of a separate case against Christina Block and others. Foreign Policy reported that prosecutors in that case allege Hanning helped connect Block, who is on trial over the attempted abduction of her children from her estranged husband, to an Israeli firm accused of carrying out the abduction. Hanning has denied any involvement. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office took over the espionage inquiry in early May 2026, working with the BND and the Federal Criminal Police Office.
Reaction in Berlin
Marc Henrichmann, who chairs the Bundestag’s intelligence oversight committee, told AFP that Germany “will not tolerate the betrayal of secrets.” “Whoever allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out,” he said.
After leaving the BND, Hanning served as state secretary at the Federal Interior Ministry from December 2005 to November 2009, with Manfred D. as his parliamentary assistant there, according to prosecutors.
Why it matters
Analysis: The case reaches the top of Germany’s foreign intelligence service at a time when Berlin and its NATO allies are confronting espionage and sabotage they attribute to hostile states. Because the alleged leaks ran through a chief of staff with access to Chancellery briefing material until March 2026, the inquiry is likely to focus on how long the access went unnoticed. All allegations remain unproven, and both men are presumed innocent unless convicted.
Sources
- German Federal Prosecutor: Arrests for suspected treasonous espionage
- Al Jazeera: Former German spy chief arrested on suspicion of treason
- Foreign Policy: World Brief, Oct. 6 (Hanning arrest)
