Former BND chief arrested in unprecedented German espionage investigation

August Hanning, the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), has been arrested in what prosecutors describe as a case involving espionage, treason and attempted treason. The allegations, if confirmed, would place an official of unprecedented seniority at the centre of a German espionage investigation. Hanning, 80, headed the BND between 1998 and 2005.

He later served as state secretary in the Federal Interior Ministry before entering the private sector as a security consultant. The federal prosecutor’s office alleges that he received classified material from a former chief of staff identified as Manfred D.* According to the allegations reported by DW, D. passed nearly 2,000 BND documents to Hanning over several years in exchange for money.

Some of the material was described as highly sensitive. Prosecutors say Hanning used the information in his private consultancy work. The most serious accusation concerns Hanning’s alleged long-term contact with an employee of a foreign intelligence service.

Prosecutors say classified information was leaked to that person, but the country involved has not been identified. Reports cited by DW say it was not Russia. Investigators also refer to an analysis allegedly prepared for an employee of another foreign intelligence service, although it remains unclear whether that document was ever delivered.

The material reportedly included information about routine meetings between the heads of German security agencies at the Chancellery. Subjects discussed at those meetings included Iran’s nuclear programme and assessments of the Russian armed forces. DW said the information may also have incorporated intelligence supplied by foreign partner agencies, potentially affecting confidence in Germany’s intelligence cooperation.

The investigation emerged from an earlier case unrelated to espionage. Hamburg police searched Hanning’s home and offices in September 2025 during inquiries into the alleged kidnapping of two children connected to Christina Block, an heiress to the Block House restaurant chain. Hanning was suspected of involvement and denies it.

During that search, investigators reportedly found an electronic storage device containing top-secret BND documents. The documents were passed to the federal prosecutor’s office, which began a covert investigation into Hanning and D. in May 2026.

The latest documents discovered so far reportedly date from June 2022. DW did not report the precise identity of the foreign service allegedly involved or establish whether all the suspected disclosures reached foreign intelligence officials. BND President Martin Jäger said the agency had launched internal inquiries “early on and without delay” and that they had corroborated the suspicions.

He said there could be no compromise on internal security. Political reactions focused on the possible damage to public confidence and on safeguards for former senior officials with access to classified information. Günter Krings of the governing Christian Democratic Union told the Rheinische Post that even the suspicion of a former BND chief selling secrets harmed trust in Germany’s security services.

Green Party lawmaker Konstantin von Notz called the allegations serious and urged tighter scrutiny of lobbying by former senior officials and people with the highest security clearances. Hanning has previously said, “A good agent is one who doesn’t draw attention to himself.”