Ex-German spy chief arrested for espionage, treason

• Former German spy chief August Hanning was arrested for espionage and attempted treason, accused of passing sensitive classified information to foreign intelligence services.
• Hanning's former chief of staff, Manfred D., also arrested, allegedly provided around two thousand classified documents to Hanning in exchange for payment.
• The espionage allegations emerged during an unrelated kidnapping trial involving heiress Christina Block, leading to searches and investigations that uncovered the spy activities.

BERLIN – Germany’s former foreign spy chief was arrested on Oct 6 on suspicion of espionage, accused of seeking to pass sensitive information to overseas intelligence services, prosecutors said.

August Hanning, who ran Germany’s BND intelligence agency between 1998 and 2005, is suspected of charges including “attempted treason” and “espionage”, according to a statement from federal prosecutors.

Hanning’s former chief of staff, partially named as Manfred D., was also arrested on suspicion of “aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage”.

Premises linked to both men were searched in several locations, including the capital Berlin.

Prosecutors say that Manfred D. also served as the chief of staff for Hanning’s successors between 2012 and 2026, and used this role to gain access to confidential information which he then passed on to Hanning “in exchange for remuneration”.

“The current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately two thousand documents, many of which contained classified information to be used exclusively by the Federal Intelligence Service for internal purposes,” prosecutors say.

They allege that “on one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence... to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service”, although it is not clear if “the material reached the intended recipient”.

Heiress trial

Hanning 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.

Marc Henrichmann, the chairman of the German parliament’s intelligence oversight committee said in a statement to AFP that Germany would “not tolerate the betrayal of secrets”.

“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”.

The allegations against Hanning came to light through his involvement in the case of Christina Block, a steakhouse chain heiress currently on trial for ordering the kidnapping of her two children.

In that case, Hanning and a retired police officer were accused of having accepted a commission from Block of more than €100,000 (S$144,000) 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. AFP