Former German intelligence chief August Hanning arrested on treason and espionage charges

Morning arrests in Nordwalde and Bavaria

Federal authorities detained the former president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), August Hanning, during an early morning operation on 6 October 2026. Officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) took the 80-year-old former intelligence chief into custody at his private residence in Nordwalde, located northeast of Münster. Concurrently, law enforcement officers in Bavaria arrested Hanning's former office manager, identified in investigative proceedings as Manfred D. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe coordinates the espionage proceedings against both suspects, while an agency spokeswoman noted that formal written statements would follow later in the day. Hanning directed Germany's foreign intelligence service for seven years between 1998 and 2005 before serving as State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Manfred D. remained a long-serving employee within the BND apparatus until leaving the agency in spring 2026.

Scope of the treason and espionage charges

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office is pursuing charges against Hanning that encompass attempted high treason, treasonous espionage, spying on state secrets, and illegal foreign intelligence agent activity. Prosecutors allege that Manfred D., who previously worked in the BND executive staff, illicitly obtained classified internal files from BND headquarters and supplied them to Hanning in exchange for regular payments until at least 2022. Manfred D. faces corresponding charges of aiding and abetting attempted high treason as well as treasonous espionage. The compromised files contained sensitive situational assessments and confidential briefings prepared for the Chancellery's intelligence review, known as the Nachrichtendienstliche Lage. Investigative findings state that Hanning utilized these internal records to draft a security analysis for a foreign intelligence service, which German media reporting identifies as not being Russia. Investigators further allege that Hanning disclosed internal information during communications with an overseas agent and planned to resell the state files through private security consulting contracts.

Discovery through the Block kidnapping investigation

The federal espionage case developed from evidence secured during an unrelated criminal inquiry conducted by the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office (LKA). On 16 September 2025, Hamburg police officers executed search warrants at Hanning's home and commercial offices in Nordwalde while collecting evidence in a child custody case involving steakhouse heiress Christina Block. The Hamburg public prosecutor's office accuses Block of contracting the kidnapping of her two youngest children in late 2023 following an ongoing family dispute. Investigators questioned Hanning regarding suspected participation in a separate, earlier attempt to abduct the children, an accusation that he publicly denies. During the subsequent technical analysis of electronic data drives confiscated during the September 2025 search, Hamburg investigators discovered the classified BND files stored on the devices. The Hamburg state police transferred the electronic findings to federal prosecutors, prompting the joint BKA operation that led to the arrests.