Police have arrested August Hanning, former head of the German foreign intelligence service BND, on suspicion of espionage, the federal prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday.
Hanning was head of the agency from December 1998 to November 2005 before joining the Federal Ministry of the Interior, where he worked as state secretary until November 2009.
According to a statement from the prosecutor’s office, the 80-year-old faces charges of espionage, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason and activity as a secret service agent.
It was not specified for which foreign intelligence service he is suspected of working.
The statement added that another former high-ranking BND employee was also arrested on suspicion of providing hundreds of classified documents to Hanning after his tenure as spy chief ended in exchange for payment.
Michaela Küfner, DW’s chief political editor, described the case at a government press conference on the arrest as “the biggest spy scandal of the century” in Germany.
What else do we know about the investigation?
Police arrested Hanning early Tuesday at his home in Nordwalde, near the western German city of Münster, according to reports from WDR, NDR and the daily. South German Zeitung.
Hanning’s alleged accomplice, identified only as Manfred D. under German privacy law, was taken into custody in Bavaria.
Authorities carried out searches at the two suspects’ properties as well as in Berlin, the prosecutor said.
During Hanning’s tenure as spy chief, D. was his chief of staff. He also worked under Hanning at the Home Office until 2009.
He faces charges of “complicity in attempted treason and espionage against the state.”
Marc Henrichmann, who chairs the intelligence monitoring committee in the German parliament, said following the arrests that Germany “will not tolerate the betrayal of secrets.”
“Anyone who allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out,” he told the AFP news agency.
German opposition lawmaker Konstantin von Notz, also a member of the monitoring committee, said the allegations were “deeply disturbing” and called for a “swift and thorough investigation.”
The investigation into Hanning reportedly began because of his connection to a high-profile trial involving businesswoman Christine Block.
2,000 documents allegedly given to Hanning
The prosecutor’s office said Hanning and Manfred D. allegedly reached their agreement in 2010.
From 2012 to March 2026, D. served as chief of staff to Hanning’s successors at the BND spy agency, where he had access to a multitude of classified documents, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
“Current findings suggest that over the years, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information intended for use exclusively by the Federal Intelligence Service for internal purposes,” the statement said.
He adds that D. allegedly provided information to Hanning until at least mid-2022 and that Hanning used this information in his private consulting work.
Hanning is also accused of having been “in close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service, to whom he transmitted political information, partly based on elements provided by Manfred D., for several years,” the statement said.
The two suspects are expected to appear before an investigating judge on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Edited by: Elizabeth Schumacher
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