Former German Foreign Intelligence Chief August Hanning Arrested for Espionage

German police have arrested August Hanning, the former president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), on suspicion of espionage, treason, and disclosing state secrets, the federal prosecutor's office announced on Tuesday. Hanning was taken into custody at his home in Nordwalde, near Münster, alongside an alleged accomplice identified as Manfred D., who was apprehended in Bavaria. Federal investigators are simultaneously conducting property searches across Berlin and the suspects' residences in what has been described as a monumental security breach.

According to prosecutors, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 classified internal documents between 2010 and at least mid-2022 in exchange for financial compensation. Officials stated that Hanning utilized these materials for private consulting and maintained illicit contacts with an unnamed foreign intelligence service, to which he allegedly transferred sensitive political intelligence over several years. DW's chief political editor Michaela Küfner characterized the unfolding inquiry as Germany's "biggest espionage scandal of the century unfolding in real time."

Hanning directed the BND from December 1998 to November 2005 before serving as a state secretary in the Federal Interior Ministry until November 2009. His co-accused, Manfred D., previously served as Hanning's chief of staff at both institutions and subsequently held senior staff roles under successive BND directors, granting him extensive access to state secrets. Manfred D. faces severe charges including aiding and abetting attempted treason and espionage against the German state.

Both suspects are scheduled to appear before an investigating judge on Tuesday and Wednesday to determine pretrial detention terms. While German authorities have not yet publicly identified the foreign intelligence apparatus implicated in the ring, the investigation remains ongoing as intelligence officials assess the operational damage caused by the alleged long-term compromise of internal BND files.