Former German spy chief arrested over treason and espionage allegations

A former German intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of passing state secrets to a foreign intelligence service, federal prosecutors said. 

August Hanning, 80, who was president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from December 1998 to November 2005 was arrested on suspicion of ​espionage, treason and obtaining classified information for ​a foreign power.

The allegations relate to claims he paid for access to classified ‌documents and used them to prepare analysis for a foreign agent, Germany's federal prosecutor's office said.

Prosecutors allege that five years after his tenure as head of the ​BND ended in 2005, Hanning agreed with a former office manager to receive confidential data ​in exchange for payment.

He is "strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage," the prosecutor's office added.

Hanning, who was also state secretary in the Federal Interior Ministry until November 2009, was arrested in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany.

A former aide of his, identified only as Manfred D, was also arrested on Tuesday and charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.

He is suspected of ‌supplying around 2,000 documents over the years, including classified material intended for internal use in the BND and ‌senior-level intelligence briefings at the chancellery.

Both suspects are believed to have agreed, in the spring of 2010, to have Manfred D continuously transfer valuable intelligence from the BND to Hanning "in exchange for remuneration".

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"In his role, he had access to confidential information," the prosecutor's office said.

"The current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information to be used exclusively by the federal intelligence service for internal purposes, particularly for executive intelligence briefings," the statement alleges.

Hanning used the information in his private consulting work, the statement added.

Prosecutors said that "on one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence provided by Manfred D to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service".

It did not specify which country the foreign agent worked for and said that "it has yet to be determined if the material reached the intended recipient".

The homes of both men were searched on Tuesday.

The investigation ​was ⁠launched after the discovery of an alleged intelligence ​report leak intended ​for the chancellery, Bild newspaper reported.

Both suspects are due to appear before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice, prosecutors added.

Hanning came under scrutiny in a separate investigation into the abduction of Hamburg businesswoman Christina Block's children from her ex-husband.

The current proceedings stem from evidence found during a search of Hanning's home in connection with that case, which led to Tuesday's arrests, the federal prosecutor's office stated.

Hanning and a retired official from the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office are suspected of having accepted a contract from Block in 2022 to abduct her children while serving as executives of a security firm, the public prosecutor's office announced in 2025, according to German news agency dpa.

The Blocks are a prominent Hamburg family best known for their popular national steakhouse chain Block House.

Their custody trial has received a lot of attention in the country, with German tabloids regularly covering the court case.

(c) Sky News 2026: Former German spy chief arrested over treason and espionage allegations