Ex-spy chief is arrested in Germany on suspicion of trading state secrets and treason
A former head of Germany's foreign intelligence service, August Hanning, has been arrested on charges of treason and espionage. Prosecutors allege he received classified documents from a former aide over several years to use in private consulting work.
Why it matters
This represents a significant security breach within German intelligence, raising questions about internal oversight and the potential compromise of state secrets.
BERLIN — A former head of Germany 's foreign intelligence service was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion that he had passed state secrets to a foreign intelligence service, the federal prosecutor's office said.
August Hanning, who led the Federal Intelligence Service, known by its German acronym BND, from 1998 to 2005, is "strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage," the federal prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Hanning, 80, was arrested in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany. A former aide, identified as Manfred D., was also arrested Tuesday in Steinfurt in western Germany and has been charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.
The statement did not reveal who the two men were suspected of spying for.
The premises of both men were searched Tuesday.
Former aide allegedly supplied Hanning with BND documents
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