Germany's ex-spy chief arrested for espionage

August Hanning has reportedly been arrested over alleged spying and acting as a secret service agentImage: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture allianceAdvertisementPolice have arrested the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency, August Hanning, on suspicion of espionage, the federal prosecutor's office announced Tuesday.

Hanning served as the agency's chief from December 1998 to November 2005, before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry where he worked as state secretary until November 2009. 

According to a statement from the prosecutor's office, he is facing charges including alleged espionage against the state, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason, and working as a secret service agent.

The statement added that a former high-ranking employee of the BND had also been arrested on suspicion of providing Hanning with hundreds of classified documents in exchange for money over more than a decade.

DW's chief political editor Michaela Küfner, reporting from a government press briefing on the arrest, described the case as Germany's "biggest espionage scandal of the century unfolding in real time."

Police arrested Hanning early Tuesday at his home in Nordwalde near the western German city of Münster, according to information from WDR, NDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Hanning's alleged accomplice, who was identified only as Manfred D. in line with Germany's privacy laws, was taken into custody in Bavaria.

Authorities were conducting searches at both suspects' properties, as well as in Berlin, the prosecutor said.

During Hanning's tenure as spy head, D. served as his chief of staff. He also subsequently worked under Hanning at the Interior Ministry until 2009.

He is facing charges of "aiding and abetting attempted treason and espionage against the state."

The prosector's office alleged that the two men came up with their arrangement in 2010.

From 2012 to March 2026, D. served as chief of staff to several successive BND agency heads, where he had access to a wealth of classified documents, according to the prosecutor's statement.

It said D. is believed to have provided Hanning with around 2,000 documents, including classified material, up until at least mid-2022.