Meet the German spymaster turned treason suspect
The former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service built a lucrative second career trading on his security expertise. Now prosecutors accuse him of profiting from secrets belonging to the state.
Former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, August Hanning, has been arrested on suspicion of treason, attempted treason, and other espionage offenses. The 80-year-old ex-spymaster is accused of profiting from secrets belonging to the state by using secret intelligence obtained from his former chief of staff to benefit his private consulting business.
Hanning spent seven years at the top of Germany's foreign intelligence service, the BND, before transitioning into private consulting, corporate intelligence, and business operations across Europe, Russia, and Asia. Prosecutors allege that Hanning obtained a stream of secret intelligence from his former chief of staff, Manfred D., who supplied him with around 2,000 BND documents between 2010 and June 2022.
These documents contained classified information intended exclusively for internal intelligence work. Hanning is also accused of maintaining a relationship with a representative of another foreign intelligence service for several years, passing along political information partly based on material obtained from Manfred D. The timing of this case is awkward for both Germany and European intelligence more broadly, as Germany is currently debating a new law to grant the BND sweeping new authority and European intelligence agencies are rewriting security laws to be more effective in the face of Russian hybrid attacks.
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