Former German intelligence chief August Hanning arrested on spying charges

August Hanning, 80, who headed Germany's foreign intelligence service BND from 1998 to 2005, was arrested on suspicion of espionage against the state, disclosing state secrets and attempting treason, the German federal prosecutor announced.

According to the federal prosecutor's statement, August Hanning, 80, who headed the BND foreign intelligence agency from 1998 to 2005, is suspected of espionage against the state, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason and working as an agent for a foreign intelligence service. According to German media reports, he was arrested early in the day at his home near Munster in western Germany.

A senior former BND employee, identified only as D. under German privacy laws, was also arrested in Bavaria. According to reports, during the time Hanning headed the intelligence service, D. served as his chief of staff and is suspected of providing Hanning with hundreds of classified documents in exchange for money over more than a decade, as well as assisting in attempted treason and espionage against the state.

According to a Sueddeutsche Zeitung report, the documents included intelligence reports intended for the chancellery, and investigators are examining whether classified information was passed to foreign entities. The prosecutor said authorities conducted searches at the properties of both suspects and also in Berlin.

According to reports, the investigation was uncovered following information that emerged in proceedings related to German businesswoman Kristina Block and an alleged leak of documents from the chancellery. The allegations were published in a joint investigation by Sueddeutsche Zeitung and German public broadcasters WDR and NDR.