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Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage
DW.com • • world
Key Points:
- August Hanning, former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, was arrested on suspicion of espionage, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason, and working as a secret service agent, according to the federal prosecutor's office.
- A former high-ranking BND employee, identified as Manfred D., was also arrested for allegedly providing Hanning with hundreds of classified documents in exchange for money over more than a decade.
- The alleged espionage arrangement between Hanning and Manfred D. reportedly began in 2010, with D. supplying around 2,000 classified documents to Hanning until at least mid-2022.
- Manfred D. served as Hanning's chief of staff during his tenure as BND head and later worked under him at the Interior Ministry; he also held a key position as chief of staff to several BND agency heads from 2012 to 2026.
- Authorities conducted searches at the suspects' properties and in Berlin, with the case described by German officials as the country's "biggest espionage scandal of the century unfolding in real time."
