Former BND chief August Hanning arrested in Germany on espionage charges
August Hanning, 80, former head of Germany's BND intelligence service, was arrested Tuesday on treason and espionage allegations, CNN reports.
Former BND president and aide held over alleged years-long intelligence leak
Germany's federal prosecutor's office arrested former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning on Tuesday on suspicion of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage, cnn.com reports.
Hanning, 80, led the Federal Intelligence Service — the BND — from December 1998 to November 2005. He was detained in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany.
A former aide, identified only as Manfred D., was simultaneously arrested in Steinfurt in western Germany. He faces charges of aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.
Manfred D. served as Hanning's chief of staff and subsequently held the same role under several successive BND presidents from March 2012 until March 2026. "In his role, he had access to confidential information," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Investigators believe the two men reached an agreement in the spring of 2010 under which Manfred D. would continuously pass valuable BND intelligence to Hanning in exchange for payment.
"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 is suspected of using the material in his private consulting work. On at least one occasion, prosecutors allege, he drew on classified intelligence supplied by Manfred D. to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. The prosecutor's office did not identify the country involved and noted it had yet to be established whether the material ever reached its intended recipient.
The premises of both men were searched on Tuesday. The statement did not name which foreign power, if any, ultimately benefited from the alleged transfers.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)