Ex-intelligence chief arrested in Germany over state secrets leak

Former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service August Hanning was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason and espionage, the federal prosecutor's office said.

Hanning, 80, who headed the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) from 1998 to 2005, was arrested in Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany. A former aide, identified as Manfred D., was also arrested in Steinfurt in western Germany and charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.

The prosecutor's office did not identify the foreign intelligence service Hanning is suspected of spying for. The premises of both men were searched on Tuesday.

Former aide allegedly supplied classified BND documents

Prosecutors allege that Manfred D., who served as Hanning's chief of staff and later held the same position under several subsequent BND presidents from 2012 to 2026, had access to confidential information.

According to the federal prosecutor's office, the two men are believed to have agreed in 2010 that Manfred D. would continuously provide Hanning with valuable BND intelligence in exchange for payment.

Investigators believe Manfred D. supplied Hanning with about 2,000 documents over the years, many of them classified and intended solely for internal use by the BND, particularly for executive intelligence briefings.

Hanning allegedly used the material in his private consulting work. In one instance, prosecutors said, he used classified intelligence supplied by Manfred D. to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service.

It was not immediately clear whether the alleged collaboration continued until the arrests. Prosecutors also said it had yet to be established whether the classified material actually reached its intended foreign recipient.

The federal prosecutor's office said Hanning had been in close contact for several years with a representative of another foreign intelligence service and had passed on political information, some of it based on material supplied by Manfred D.

Arrests linked to child abduction investigation

The investigation into the alleged espionage was triggered by evidence found during a separate probe into the abduction of the children of Hamburg businesswoman Christina Block from their father in Denmark in January 2024, during a long-running custody dispute.

Hanning came under scrutiny in that case, with German authorities investigating whether he and a retired official from the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office had accepted a contract from Block in 2022 to abduct her children while they were executives at a security firm.

The public prosecutor's office announced the investigation in autumn 2025, according to German news agency dpa.

The Block family is prominent in Hamburg and is known for the nationwide Block House steakhouse chain. The custody dispute has attracted considerable attention in Germany, including extensive coverage in the country's tabloids.

The BND did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Opposition lawmaker calls for swift investigation

Konstantin von Notz, a Greens lawmaker and member of the German parliament committee overseeing the intelligence services, said the allegations were deeply troubling and called for a swift investigation.

He told Spiegel Online that authorities should conduct a "swift and thorough investigation" into the allegations against Hanning.

Von Notz also criticised what he described as the dubious and wide-ranging lobbying activities of former senior officials and people who previously held high-level security clearances.

He called for former officials with security clearances to be barred from private consulting work after leaving public service.