New Delhi: Germany’s former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning had served as head of the BND foreign intelligence agency from December 1998 to November 2005 | Reuterswas arrested on the charges of espionage, treason and obtaining classified information for a foreign power.
Hanning, the former head of the Federal Intelligence Service, or BND, from December 1998 to November 2005, was taken into custody by the police at his home in Steinfurt county near the Dutch border on Tuesday morning, under orders from the German federal prosecutor.
The 80-year-old is alleged of using classified intelligence to “draft an analysis” for one foreign intelligence service and maintained contact with another foreign spying service, the federal prosecutor’s office announced Tuesday.
Police also arrested former BND employee Manfred D, accusing him of passing about 2,000 classified documents to Hanning for money.
According to a Financial Times (FT) report, Manfred D served as Hanning’s chief of staff during his tenure and continued to serve as chief of staff for the BND’s chiefs from 2012 to 2026, making him one of the most experienced and powerful officials at the agency.
The report quotes a statement of the federal prosecutor which alleges that the two agreed in 2010 that Manfred D would provide intelligence from BND to Hanning in exchange for payment.
Manfred D, prosecutors allege, supplied Hanning with about 2,000 documents over several years. Many contained classified information intended for internal BND use, including intelligence briefings for senior officials. Hanning allegedly used some of the information in his private consulting work.
In at least one case, prosecutors say Hanning took information from these documents to prepare a briefing for an officer from a foreign intelligence service. They also say he had an unofficial information-sharing relationship with an official from another foreign service for years. Authorities haven’t named the countries involved, but the FT reported investigators found no ties to Russia.
Born in 1946 in Nordwalde, Westphalia, Hanning trained as a lawyer, then joined Germany’s federal administration in the 1970s. He climbed the ranks in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Chancellery and worked at West Germany’s permanent mission in East Berlin during the Cold War.
By the 1990s, Hanning became the senior coordinator for Germany’s intelligence services. His time as the BNF chief saw some big shifts in Germany’s intelligence operations after September 11. He told a parliamentary inquiry later that working with the US National Security Agency was key to strengthening the BND’s signals intelligence. After leaving the BND, Hanning became a state secretary at the German Interior Ministry until 2009.
The current allegations mark a dramatic reversal for a man who once occupied one of Germany’s most senior intelligence posts. Hanning has been arrested, but the allegations remain subject to the ongoing investigation and judicial process.
(Edited by Tony Rai)