Erkin Oncan
The BND was founded by Nazis, ran Gladio, and did Rubikon with the CIA. Hanning isn't a rotten official - he's one who got caught.
A major scandal has erupted at Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND), one of the most serious cases to hit the agency in recent years.
Germany's Federal Prosecutor General is investigating former BND President August Hanning on suspicion of espionage against the state, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason, and engaging in intelligence activities. Another long-serving employee of the agency is facing charges of aiding and abetting attempted treason and espionage against the state. Both men have been detained, and the Federal Prosecutor General's Office has confirmed their arrests.
Information: What is Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND)?
The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) is Germany's official foreign intelligence service. Its founder was Reinhard Gehlen, who served as the head of intelligence on the Eastern Front during Nazi Germany. In its early years, the agency recruited numerous former members of Nazi organizations such as the Gestapo and the SS. During the Cold War and in the period that followed, the agency continued to be one of "American imperialism's biggest partners" in Europe.
Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) officers detained Hanning at his home in Nordwalde, near Münster, in the early hours of the morning. This was reported by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
At the same time, another former senior BND employee was detained in Bavaria. The suspect, identified as Manfred D., was reportedly Hanning's former chief of staff and had worked at the BND until spring 2026. Investigators searched locations associated with the suspects both there and in Berlin.
Information: What is the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA)?
The Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt - BKA) is Germany's federal criminal police agency responsible for combating crime at the national level.
The two senior figures in German intelligence are expected to appear before a judge today or tomorrow. The judge will formally notify them of the arrest warrants and decide whether they will remain in custody pending trial.
What are the charges?
First of all, it is alleged that D., Hanning's former chief of staff, provided Hanning with highly classified information from the BND in exchange for money until at least 2022. It is not unusual for retired intelligence officers to take on roles such as security consultants for various organizations after leaving government service. In Hanning's case, however, investigators suspect that the former BND chief may have prepared a security analysis for a foreign intelligence service "in at least one instance."
According to information obtained by WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, that foreign service was not Russia.
In another case, Hanning is alleged to have used information obtained from internal BND documents in his communications with a foreign agent.
In fact, the story of how Hanning first came onto investigators' radar goes back to last year.
According to information obtained by Tagesschau from intelligence sources, Hanning came under investigation after searches were carried out at his home and offices in September last year. At the time, the Hamburg State Criminal Police Office (LKA) was searching for evidence related to the kidnapping of Christina Block's children.
Child abduction and sensitive documents
The case concerned allegations by the Hamburg prosecutor's office against restaurant entrepreneur Christina Block and her lawyer, Ingo Bott, over the abduction of children. Prosecutors accuse Block of arranging the kidnapping of her two young children at the end of 2023 amid a custody dispute with her former husband. Hanning is also alleged to have been involved in the attempted abduction. Hanning denies the allegations.
According to the allegations, Hanning, together with a former LKA employee who was his business associate, conspired to hand the children's father a hard drive containing images and videos of child sexual abuse material.
Information: Who is Christina Block?
Christina Block is the daughter and heiress of Eugen Block, founder of Germany's well-known Block House steakhouse chain. She is accused of instigating or planning the violent abduction of her two youngest children from Denmark and their transfer to Germany on New Year's Eve 2023.
The LKA also discovered an electronic data storage device containing highly sensitive material while examining materials seized from Hanning last year.
According to the findings, the former intelligence chief had access to highly classified BND documents from the recent past that he had absolutely no reason to possess. Hanning's tenure at the BND, meanwhile, had ended in November 2005.
In total, D. is believed to have passed approximately 2,000 documents to Hanning. A significant portion of these reportedly consisted of briefings prepared for the weekly "intelligence situation" meetings held at the Chancellery, where the heads of the country's security agencies exchange information.
According to information obtained by investigators, the documents included reports on highly sensitive subjects such as Iran's nuclear program and the Russian military. Intelligence sources say that some of the documents even contained information obtained from foreign intelligence services.
The leaking of such material is being described in the intelligence community as virtually a "super-GAU."
Information: What is a super-GAU?
Super-GAU is a German-derived term referring to the largest and most destructive situation or catastrophe imaginable, going beyond even the worst-case scenario that has been designed for. It is derived from the German expression "Größter anzunehmender Unfall" ("the greatest assumed accident").
'Treason against the state' allegations
Following the Hamburg LKA's investigation, the documents seized were handed over to federal authorities. The Federal Prosecutor General's Office launched a secret investigation into Hanning and the alleged informant within the BND in May 2026.
It is not yet known how long Hanning had been receiving confidential internal information. According to security sources, the most recent documents seized date from June 2022.
It is also unclear how the alleged informant inside the BND managed to remove the material from the tightly secured agency.
The BND was asked for an urgent statement on the matter. The agency referred the case to the Federal Prosecutor General's Office, citing the fact that an ongoing investigation was involved.
August Hanning's lawyers have so far failed to respond to an urgent request for comment on the allegations.
Not the BND's first case
For the BND, this is the second serious case to emerge within a matter of several years.
A former BND official is currently on trial before the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, accused of spying for Russia together with another suspect in 2022. In that case as well, highly classified information concerning BND cyber operations was allegedly leaked outside the agency.
If the allegations against Hanning and the other suspect are confirmed, the case will reach unprecedented proportions in the history of German intelligence.
There has never been another case in German history in which suspicions of treason against the state have targeted such a senior government official as a former head of an intelligence agency.
August Hanning is also a prominent figure in the intelligence world. Throughout his career, he held positions at key points in Germany's security architecture. Before becoming president of the BND, he served as an official responsible for confidentiality and security at West Germany's diplomatic mission in East Germany.
He later held various positions at the Federal Chancellery, including serving as Coordinator of the Federal Intelligence Services. Hanning, who holds a doctorate in law, became head of the BND in 1998.
After leaving the intelligence service, he became a State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior at the end of 2005. Four years later, he was placed into temporary retirement.
Of course, it would not be enough to view this case simply as an instance of "rot" within the institution. We reach this conclusion particularly by recalling how German intelligence has been involved in dirty operations from the very foundation of the agency and throughout its history.
It was not merely a matter of one former director. German intelligence has been involved in numerous dirty operations, from employing Nazi war criminals to Operation Rubikon, carried out jointly with the CIA, and NATO's secret stay-behind/Gladio networks. In all of these cases, methods strikingly similar to those employed by Hanning were used.
What happened in Hanning's case is that he continued using what he had learned during his retirement - and was caught.
From this perspective, the Hanning affair can be read not so much as the story of a "rotten official," but rather as the story of an "official who got caught."