Germany Arrests Ex-BND Chief August Hanning Over 2,000 Classified Documents

Q: Which unidentified foreign powers were secretly receiving thousands of highly classified documents from Germany’s former top spymaster?

They have not been publicly identified. German federal prosecutors said only that August Hanning allegedly prepared an analysis for one foreign intelligence service and, over several years, passed political information to a representative of another foreign spy agency. What is known is mainly negative: multiple reports say the case does not appear to involve Russia in the specific instance of the analysis prepared for a foreign intelligence officer. Beyond that, prosecutors have withheld the names of the countries or services involved, and they have also said it is still unclear whether that analysis ever reached its intended recipient. Investigators allege that Hanning’s former aide, Manfred D., supplied him with about 2,000 classified BND documents over years in exchange for payment, and that some of this material was then used in Hanning’s private consulting work and in contacts with foreign intelligence figures. Media reports have speculated about Hanning’s international business ties, including past links to Russia and China, but no foreign power has been officially accused in this case. So the short answer is that the recipient foreign powers remain undisclosed, with only one important public detail so far: prosecutors and reporting indicate the identified episode under review was not tied to Russia.

3 articles · Updated · DW (English) · Oct 6

Federal prosecutors said police arrested former BND chief August Hanning on Tuesday on suspicion of espionage, disclosure of state secrets, attempted treason and acting as a secret service agent.
About 2,000 classified documents were allegedly passed to Hanning by former senior BND employee Manfred D. from 2012 to at least mid-2022, with prosecutors saying the material was used in Hanning's private consulting work.
Prosecutors said the two men devised the arrangement in 2010, that Manfred D. was paid for the documents, and that Hanning also shared political information with a representative of an unnamed foreign intelligence service.
Nordwalde and Bavaria arrests were followed by searches there and in Berlin, while the suspects were due before an investigating judge on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Germany's intelligence oversight chief called the case an intolerable betrayal, and DW's chief political editor described it as the country's biggest espionage scandal of the century.

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DW (English)2h ago

Germany Arrests Ex-BND Chief August Hanning for Espionage, Treason

The Wall Street Journal2h ago

Former German Spy Chief Arrested on Suspicion of Espionage - WSJ

Yahoo! Voices3h ago

Ex-chief of German intelligence service arrested for espionage

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