AFP. A former German spy chief was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of espionage and treason, an embarrassing case at a time when the country is seeking to broaden the powers of its intelligence agencies.
August Hanning, who ran Germany’s BND foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005, is accused of espionage, treason and working for foreign intelligence services, federal prosecutors said.
They did not say which foreign powers were involved. However, AFP understands it was not Russia.
The news magazine Spiegel, citing unnamed sources, reported that Hanning had been in contact with an intelligence operative for Azerbaijan.
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Hanning’s former chief of staff, partially named as Manfred D. who continued working for the spy agency until March 2026, was also arrested.
He is accused of obtaining classified information while working for Hanning’s successors and selling them to his former boss, who was working as a private sector consultant.
Hanning then allegedly used the information in his private consulting work, which included preparing a briefing for a foreign spy and passing information to an agent of another foreign intelligence service, prosecutors said.
According to Spiegel’s report, the briefing was prepared for the Azerbaijani spy.
The scandal comes after the government last month signed off on a major overhaul of intelligence agencies with broader powers for covert operations.
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