Germany arrests former BND spy chief August Hanning over alleged treason and espionage

German spy chief arrested for treason Submitted by MEE staff on Tue, 10/06/2026 - 18:50 August Hanning, who ran Germany's foreign intelligence service, had extensive links to Israeli intelligence Then-German Interior Secretary of State August Hanning attends a press briefing in Rabat, Morocco, on 3 July 2007 (Abdelhak Senna/AFP) Off Germany’s former spy chief was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of passing sensitive information to foreign powers, in a case that could be the biggest spy scandal in Europe since the Cold War. August Hanning, who ran Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005, was accused of espionage, treason and working for foreign intelligence services, federal prosecutors said. The case is likely to raise questions about who Hanning passed intelligence to. The Financial Times reported that investigators had ruled out Russia, which Germany views as its main foe amid the war raging in Ukraine. The BND is Germany's equivalent of the CIA. Hanning would have interacted with senior spies and business leaders across countries, including China. He is also known to have close ties with senior intelligence authorities in Israel. Hanning came under investigators' crosshairs because of his alleged role in a separate matter. The former spy’s home in Hamburg was searched in September 2025 in connection with a high-profile child custody case involving Christina Block, the multi-millionaire heiress of a German steakhouse restaurateur. Hanning’s ties to Israeli intelligence officials appear to have played a role in that case. In 2024, Hanning approached a former Shin Bet security service chief, Jacob Perry, about kidnapping Block’s two children from the home of her ex-husband in Denmark, German paper Bild reported. Der Spiegel also reported Hanning’s role in the attempted kidnapping. Hanning denied any involvement in the case, saying he had never contacted Perry, who leads CGI Group, a private intelligence company headquartered in Tel Aviv. The kidnappers allegedly assaulted Block’s ex-husband and dragged her 10-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter into a forest before bundling them into a car away from their father. The children’s mouths were duct-taped, and they were threatened with death if they screamed, according to German media reports.  'Hyperzionism': How Germany's conflation of antisemitism and anti-Zionism allowed a far-right return Read More » Israeli news site Haaretz said one of the kidnappers, an Israeli, was arrested in Cyprus and extradited to Germany. Hanning and a retired police officer were accused of accepting a commission from Block of more than $112,000 in exchange for the kidnapping. Hanning’s arrest has rocked Germany. The 80-year-old’s former chief of staff, known only as Manfred D, was also arrested on suspicion of aiding treason.  The aide is accused of using his position working for some of Hanning's successors to obtain classified information and sell it to his former boss. Hanning then allegedly used the information in his private consulting work, which included preparing a briefing for a foreign spy and passing information to an agent of another foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said. Germany would "not tolerate the betrayal of secrets", Marc Henrichmann, chairman of parliament's intelligence oversight committee, said in a statement to AFP. "Whoever allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out," he said, adding that Hanning's alleged behaviour would represent "trampling his official duties underfoot". Diplomacy News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Germany's Former Spy Chief Arrested In Biggest Espionage Scandal Of The Century August Hanning, former head of the German BND foreign intelligence agency, which is Germany's equivalent of the CIA, has been arrested on espionage charges in a shocking and unprecedented situation in which a country's top intelligence officer and head of a national spy agency was caught spying for another state. The 80-year-old faces formal charges including "treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage" - according to German media. While an official statement from the prosecutor's office has not yet identified the foreign service he's suspected of working for, Israel has been widely named, also given this past well-documented associations and links. August Hanning, via Associated PressCuriously, Hanning's arrest at his home in Nordwalde in western Germany comes a full two decades after he left the top intelligence post. He served as BND chief from December 1998 to November 2005 before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry. In short, it appeared he not only illegally held on to thousands of classified documents, but used them over the years to peddle influence - including preparing a presentation for a foreign intelligence service based on the internal government docs. What's more is he was covertly obtaining new documents even many years out of office. Israeli media itself is highlighting that the way Hanning was caught actually involves shady Israeli operatives: The affair rocking Germany involves thousands of classified documents, suspected payments, contacts with foreign intelligence officials and a surprising connection to Israel: The investigation that led to its exposure actually began with the case involving the abduction of millionaire heiress Christina Block’s children, in which Israelis were also implicated. International reports at the time: "According to prosecutors, August Hanning, who once headed Germany’s domestic intelligence service, allegedly approached Peri [ex-Shin Bet head], now owner of the Israeli consulting firm CGI Group, to organize a team of Israeli operatives for the abduction. The team allegedly assaulted Hänsel, kidnapped the children, smuggled them into Germany, and handed them over to Block. A Danish court later ordered her to return the children to their father." According to a summary of the plot coming to light through the high profile Christina Block case via Channel 7 Israel National News: Hanning had already come under scrutiny by authorities as part of an entirely separate case - the case of Christina Block, heiress to a German restaurant empire, who is standing trial over the abduction of two of her children from Denmark to Germany amid a bitter custody dispute with her former husband. That case also attracted attention in Israel. The investigation implicated Israelis, including security personnel, and reports about the affair also mentioned former members of Israel’s security establishment. Hanning’s name was linked to allegations concerning an earlier attempt to return the children to Germany, claims that he denied. As part of that investigation, investigators searched his home and office in September of last year and seized equipment for examination. That, according to the German investigation, is where the case took a dramatic turn. Secret BND documents were discovered on an electronic storage device seized from Hanning. The problem was obvious: Hanning had left the intelligence service in November 2005 and therefore should not have had access to current intelligence material. More insane details from the Block case and kidnapping plot via The Guardian: A second former high-ranking BND official has also been arrested, and the person's home also searched. That official is accused of handing over to Hanning additional secret documents in exchange for payment. Some of the alleged details of the Block case are wild. It was Hanning that set up Block with the brutal Israeli contractors who dragged the children into the forest and bound them up: Ex BND chief August Hanning has more Israeli ties than a Tel Aviv haberdashery Hanning introduced German heiress Christina Block to the Israeli private spying firm CGI Group Block used the Israelis to abduct her own children from her ex and plant fake images of child abuse on his phone Hanning, who served on the board of another Israeli spying firm, arranged the operation through former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Peri — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) October 6, 2026 That official has been identified only as Manfred D. - Hanning's own former chief of staff when he had been BND chief. Manfred D., who had continued on as chief of staff for Hanning's successors, was apparently from 2012 to March 2026 continuing to hand over a wealth of classified files to Hanning, despite his long having been out of government. Manfred D. is charged with "aiding and abetting attempted treason and espionage against the state." German media is widely describing the espionage case as the "biggest espionage scandal of the century." Marc Henrichmann, who chairs the German parliament's intelligence oversight committee, declared in the wake of the high level arrests that "whoever allies themselves with the enemies of our liberal democracy will be found out." Tyler Durden Tue, 10/06/2026 - 14:00

August Hanning worked for Germany’s federal intelligence from 1998 to 2005 (Picture: AP) Prosecutors have opened a case into one of Germany’s former chief spies after he allegedly obtained classified information for a ‘foreign power’. August Hanning, the former chief of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, has also been arrested on charges of espionage and treason. Hanning worked at the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, and was arrested at his home in Nordwalde, Germany. A second former BND employee, named only as ‘Mandred D’, is accused of handing over around 2,000 classified documents to Hanning. In exchange for using his access to ‘highly confidential’ information, Mandred was allegedly paid. Hanning was arrested at his home in Nordwalde (Picture: AP) Sign up for all of the latest stories Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens. Hanning is also accused of keeping ‘close contact’ with an unknown ‘representative of another foreign intelligence service’. There are fears that Hanning passed on political information and other classified information to the foreign intelligence service. Authorities released a statement reading: ‘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. ‘On one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence … to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service,’ prosecutors said, noting it was not clear if ‘the material reached the intended recipient.’ In 2024, another data breach saw Germany’s Luftwaffe air force Lieutenant General leak British military secrets to Russia while on a video call – an incident which was deemed the ‘worst security breach’ since the Cold War. Ingo Gerhartz, the Luftwaffe air force Lieutenant General, was speaking with other officers and a general about the process of delivering Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine. But a recording of the 38-minute call was broadcast on Russian state television, with Mr Gerhartz heard claiming ‘British troops were already on the ground’ – a highly sensitive detail which has worried fellow Nato allies. In 2023, the BND was thrust into the spotlight after a German double agent was accused of leaking British intelligence reports about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Kremlin. At the time, UK spy chiefs were said to be ‘incensed’ by claims that top-secret files were shared by a suspect named only as Carsten L, who had a senior role in Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. For more stories like this, check our news page. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source