BerlinAP —
The former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service has been arrested on suspicion of passing state secrets to the foreign intelligence service, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced on Tuesday.
August Hanning, who headed the Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym BND, from 1998 to 2005 is “highly suspected of leaking state secrets, attempted treason and treasonous espionage,” the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
Hanning, 80, was arrested in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany. A former aide identified as Manfred D. was also arrested in Steinfurt in western Germany on Tuesday and charged with attempted treason and aiding and abetting treasonous espionage.
The statement did not say who accused the two men of spying.
Both men’s homes were searched on Tuesday.
Prosecutors said Manfred D. was Hanning’s chief of staff and then served as chief of staff to several BND presidents from 2012 to 2026.
Prosecutors said, “In the course of his duties, he had access to confidential information.”
According to the statement, both suspects are believed to have agreed in 2010 to have Manfred D continue to transmit valuable information from the BND to Hanning in exchange for compensation.
“The current findings suggest that Manfred D. provided approximately 2,000 documents to Hanning over the years, many of which contained classified information used exclusively by the Federal Intelligence Agency for internal purposes, particularly executive intelligence briefings,” the statement said.
Hanning used the information for his private consulting work, and on one occasion “used classified information provided by Manfred D. to draft analyzes for foreign intelligence officials.”
Manfred D., who cannot be identified by his full name in line with German privacy rules, had been providing sensitive information to Hanning for several years, but it was not immediately clear whether the cooperation continued before his arrest on Tuesday, the statement said.
The agency did not say in which country the foreign agent was working, but said: “It has not yet been confirmed whether the material has reached its intended recipient.”
The statement added: “Hanning was in close contact over several years with a representative of another foreign intelligence agency and passed on to that representative political intelligence based in part on material provided by Manfred D..”
Hanning has come under intense scrutiny in a separate investigation into Hamburg businesswoman Christina Bloch’s years-long custody battle and the abduction of her children from her ex-husband in Denmark in January 2024.
An investigation into that incident led to an arrest Tuesday.
The current proceeding is based on evidence discovered during a search of Hanning’s residence in connection with that incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
According to German news agency dpa, prosecutors announced in autumn 2025 that Hanning and a former official at the Hamburg state criminal police are suspected of accepting a contract from Block to kidnap children in 2022, when he was an executive at a security company.
The Blocks are a prominent Hamburg family best known for their popular national steakhouse chain, Block Haus. The custody case has attracted a lot of attention in the country, with German tabloid newspapers heavily covering reports from the court.
BND did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
German opposition lawmaker Konstantin von Notz expressed shock at the allegations against Hanning and called for a swift investigation.
“This is a sad and very worrying story,” said von Notz, a Green Party lawmaker and member of the German parliamentary committee that oversees intelligence agencies.
“I look forward to a swift and thorough investigation into the terrible allegations against former BND chief Hanning,” von Notts told Der Spiegel Online.
“For years we have criticized the questionable and extensive lobbying activities of former government officials and Germany’s top secret holders,” he said, calling for former secret holders to be barred from engaging in private consulting work after leaving office, Der Spiegel Online reported.
