• Prosecutors say Hanning’s former chief of staff ‘sold’ him confidential info until 2022
• Ex-BND president accused of passing information to ‘as-yet unnamed’ foreign intel agency
BERLIN: A former German spy chief has been arrested on suspicion of passing sensitive information to foreign powers, an embarrassing case that has been dubbed one of the “biggest espionage scandals of the century”.
August Hanning, who ran Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005, is accused of espionage, treason and working for foreign intelligence services, federal prosecutors said.
They did not say which foreign powers were involved. However, sources said that Russia and China are not involved.
Hanning’s former chief of staff, only identified as Manfred D, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding treason.
The aide is accused of using his position, while working for some of Hanning’s successors, to obtain classified information and sell it to his former boss.
Hanning then allegedly used the information in his private consulting work, which included preparing a briefing for a foreign spy and passing information to an agent of another foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said.
DW’s chief political editor Michaela Küfner, reporting from a government press briefing on the arrest, described the case as Germany’s “biggest espionage scandal of the century.”
Germany would “not tolerate the betrayal of secrets”, Marc Henrichmann, chairman of parliament’s intelligence oversight committee, said in a statement to AFP.
“Whoever allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out,” he said, adding that Hanning’s alleged behaviour would represent “trampling his official duties underfoot”.
Treason can be punished with a maximum penalty of life in prison in Germany.
The allegations against Hanning came to light through his involvement in the case of Christina Block, a steakhouse chain heiress on trial for ordering the kidnapping of her two children.
In that case Hanning and a retired police officer were accused of accepting a commission from Block of more than 100,000 euros ($112,000) in exchange for returning the children from Denmark, where they were living with Block’s ex-husband.
As part of that investigation, Hanning’s property was searched in September 2025, leading to the current probe.
The scandal is particularly embarrassing as it comes after the government last month signed off on a major overhaul of intelligence agencies, giving them broader powers to conduct covert operations.
The BND and the BfV domestic spy service have traditionally had more limited powers than foreign counterparts, but authorities are seeking to strengthen them to face growing threats, especially from Russia.
The reforms are expected to be passed by parliament early next year.
The current head of the BND Martin Jaeger said that the agency had “quickly carried out extensive internal investigations” into the Hanning case before federal prosecutors took over the probe.
According to prosecutors, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately two thousand documents over several years, many of which contained classified information.
Hanning – who served as the top civil servant in the interior ministry from 2005-2009 – used classified intelligence “to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service”.
He is also accused of being “in close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service, to whom he passed on political information, partially based on material provided by Manfred D, for several years”.
According to the ARD broadcaster, the information that Manfred D. passed on included material on the Iranian nuclear programme and the Russian army.
It quoted security sources as saying some of the information came from partner intelligence agencies abroad.
Konstantin von Notz, an opposition Greens party lawmaker, told AFP the allegations were “grave and deeply disturbing”, and called for an investigation into the “potential damage”.
Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026
