August Hanning, who directed the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) between 1998 and 2005, was arrested this Tuesday along with his former Chief of Staff, accused of having handled classified information that would have been provided to an agent of a foreign service. Both are charged with espionage and attempted treason.
The arrests, carried out by the German police, took place in the counties of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, in the state of Bavaria, and in Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Concurrently, searches were conducted in several homes. The federal prosecutor considers Hanning a suspect of various crimes, including espionage in favor of a third party, obtaining official secrets, and attempted treason.
As for his former Chief of Staff, identified as Manfred D., the accusation attributes complicity in attempted treason and collaboration in espionage activities for a third state. Although he initially worked closely with Hanning, he later held high-responsibility positions in the BND from 2012 until March 2026.
"It is believed that both suspects agreed, in the spring of 2010, that Manfred D. would continuously transmit valuable information from the BND to Hanning in exchange for compensation," the German prosecutor stated in a press release, specifying that Hanning used that data in the context of his private consulting activities.
The prosecutor adds that "current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information for the exclusive use of the BND for internal purposes, particularly for executive intelligence reports," and asserts that Hanning used part of that classified material "to prepare an analysis for an official of a foreign intelligence service," although it has not yet been established whether the documentation ultimately reached its alleged recipient.
In any case, the investigation does conclude that the former director of the BND maintained "close contact" with a representative of another foreign intelligence service, to whom he would have provided politically sensitive information, based in part on the data supplied by his former collaborator.
According to information from the WDR and NDR networks, the suspicions against Hanning and his former chief of staff would not be related to Russia. For its part, the DPA news agency indicates that the investigations against Hanning would be linked to activities in Central Asia, while the weekly 'Der Spiegel' points to a possible connection with the intelligence of Azerbaijan.
Both detainees are expected to appear this Tuesday before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice, where they will be formally informed of the list of charges and it will be decided whether to order their preventive detention.