Germany’s Ex-Spy Chief Arrested on Suspicion of Attempted Treason

Germany’s former intelligence chief August Hanning was arrested on Oct. 6, accused of paying a former aide for classified documents and using the aide to prepare an analysis for a foreign spy service.

Hanning, who led Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service from 1998 to 2005, is “strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage,” the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Tuesday.

Prosecutors allege that Hanning used valuable intelligence that his former aide—identified in the statement as Manfred D.—provided to him in his private consulting work. In one instance, he allegedly used classified intelligence to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service.

Prosecutors did not identify the foreign agent’s country, nor have they determined whether the material that Hanning prepared reached the foreign spy.

Hanning is also accused of being in close contact with a member of another foreign intelligence service, supplying this individual with information over the span of several years, based on material obtained from Manfred D.

Known by its acronym BND, the intelligence service that Hanning led gathers and analyzes information from abroad to help the German government assess foreign and security policy threats.

BND President Martin Jaeger said the agency began investigating internally as soon as concerns arose about Hanning’s activity, adding that “there can be no compromises on internal security.”

Hanning did not respond to a request for comment by publication time, and the German chancellery declined comment.

Manfred D., who was not immediately reachable for comment, has been accused of aiding and abetting attempted treason and “treasonous espionage.”

Nearly 2,000 Documents

Prosecutors said the espionage investigation into Hanning grew out of evidence from a September 2025 search of his premises in a separate investigation involving a German businesswoman.

The probe led investigators to believe Hanning and Manfred D. reached an arrangement around spring 2010 under which Manfred D. would routinely obtain valuable BND information for Hanning in exchange for payment. Hanning allegedly used this information in his consultation work for profit.

By June 2022, Manfred D. had allegedly supplied nearly 2,000 documents, many containing classified information. Some were intended to prepare BND leaders for regular intelligence briefings involving senior government and security officials at the German chancellery.

Konstantin von Notz, a Greens lawmaker and deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee overseeing Germany’s intelligence services, called for investigators to establish what happened and assess any damage.

“This is a hard-hitting and deeply troubling story,” von Notz told German newspaper Der Spiegel.

“We expect a swift and thorough investigation into the egregious allegations leveled against former BND chief Hanning,” von Notz continued, adding that German lawmakers have long been scrutinizing “the dubious and wide-ranging lobbying activities of former top officials and those with the highest security clearances.”

Hanning’s arrest adds to Germany’s history of intelligence scandals.

Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned in 1974 after a close aide was exposed as an East German spy. A senior counterintelligence official exposed in 1990 was later convicted of treason for spying for East Germany.

Reuters contributed to this report.