Germany has arrested former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning on suspicion of espionage and treason in a case involving the alleged theft and transfer of highly classified state secrets.
Hanning, 80, who led Germany’s foreign intelligence service from 1998 to 2005, was detained Tuesday along with a former senior agency employee identified as Manfred D.
Prosecutors said they suspect Hanning gathered state secrets, attempted to commit high treason and acted as an agent for a foreign intelligence service.
Investigators believe Manfred supplied Hanning with classified material for money until at least 2022. German media reported that about 2,000 documents were transferred, including intelligence briefings prepared for senior security officials at the chancellery.
The documents reportedly included sensitive information on Iran’s nuclear program, the Russian military and intelligence shared by foreign partner agencies.
Prosecutors suspect Hanning used at least some of the material to prepare a security analysis for a foreign intelligence service and shared information from internal documents during contact with one of its agents. Authorities have not identified the country involved and said the case is not believed to involve Russia.
The investigation began after police searched Hanning’s home and related offices in September 2025 during a separate case. Investigators found a storage device containing classified intelligence documents, prompting a broader federal investigation in May 2026.
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