The man who led Germany’s intelligence services from 1998 to 2005 has been arrested on suspicion of espionage and attempted treason, according to the country’s federal prosecutor’s office.
The office announced Tuesday that August Hanning, 80, had been arrested and faces charges including “treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason” through contacts with foreign intelligence services.
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The office did not specify which country(ies) Hanning is accused of working for.
However, citing unnamed sources, German newspaper Der Spiegel reported that Hanning was in contact with a representative of Azerbaijani intelligence services. In 2025, prosecutors also accused Hanning of ties to Israeli spies in a separate case that ultimately led them to the former intelligence boss’ alleged spying on behalf of other agencies.
If convicted, the treason carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in Germany.
German newspaper Deutsche Welle called Hanning’s arrest Germany’s “biggest spy scandal of the century.”
Here’s what we know:
Who is August Hanning?
Born in Nordwalde, Westphalia, western Germany, in 1946, Hanning was head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, then worked in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, before becoming state secretary until 2009.
He then worked as a private consultant.
German media showed photos on Tuesday morning of Hanning being taken from his red-brick house in Norwalde, near Munster, into a bulletproof vehicle by masked police.
What do prosecutors claim?
They claim Hanning used classified intelligence to “write an analysis” for a foreign intelligence service and remained “in close contact” with another foreign spy service for “several years” while working as a private consultant.
They say that in 2010, Hanning reached an agreement to receive confidential information from his former bureau chief – who was in office until March of this year and goes by only “Manfred D” – and prepared to provide an “analysis” of it to a foreign power in exchange for money. It is unclear whether the analysis was properly shared.
However, Hanning also allegedly passed potentially sensitive political information, based in part on information provided by Manfred D, to a contact representing a separate foreign intelligence service.
Manfred D was also arrested Tuesday and charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.
“The two suspects allegedly agreed, in the spring of 2010, that Manfred D would permanently transmit valuable information from the Federal Intelligence Service to Hanning in exchange for remuneration,” said a press release from the prosecution.
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, particularly for executive intelligence briefings,” he adds.
“Hanning was to use this information as part of his private consulting services, which he had been offering ever since,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Hanning and Manfred D’s alleged spying was uncovered during an investigation into another kidnapping case involving German businesswoman and steakhouse chain heiress Christina Block.
In that case, Hamburg prosecutors accused Block of arranging the kidnapping of his two youngest children in 2023 due to a custody dispute. Prosecutors said Hanning put Block in touch with a private Israeli spy company to carry out the kidnappings. The former intelligence chief and a police officer were accused of accepting more than 100,000 euros ($112,000) from Block in exchange for the return of her children from Denmark, where they lived with her ex-husband. The trial is ongoing.
What do we know about the alleged documents that were passed on?
Few details are available about the contents of the 2,000 documents, but German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung reported that a number of them were linked to Iran’s nuclear program and the Russian military.
He added that other documents were highly sensitive and classified by allied intelligence agencies of other countries.
What did the government say?
Marc Henrichmann, chairman of the parliamentary intelligence oversight committee, said in a statement to the AFP news agency that Berlin would not “tolerate the betrayal of secrets.”
“Anyone who allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out,” he said, adding that Hanning’s alleged actions would amount to “trampling on his official duties.”
Current BND head Martin Jaeger told German newspaper Rheinische Post that the agency had “quickly conducted thorough internal investigations” into the former leader before the federal prosecutor took on the case.
“For the BND and for me, there is no compromise when it comes to internal security,” Jaeger said, adding that he has “not called into question any of my goals or any of my priorities.”
Have there ever been similar spy scandals in Germany?
Yes.
In 2023, a high-ranking German intelligence officer, identified as “Carsten L”, was charged with high treason when prosecutors claimed he obtained classified intelligence about the war in Ukraine and the Wagner mercenary group and shared it with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). His case is ongoing.
In 1974, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt was forced to resign following revelations that an East German spy had worked as his close aide for almost two years.
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