Germany Arrests Former Spy Chief on Espionage Charges

German police just arrested a former head of one of Germany’s spy agencies. August Hanning led the Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, or BND) from 1998 to 2005. He was arrested on Tuesday on charges of espionage and attempted treason.

Police also arrested Hanning’s former bureau chief, identified as Manfred D., on accusations that he provided nearly 2,000 documents, most of them classified, to Hanning up until 2022.

German prosecutors allege that Manfred D. gave Hanning classified documents so Hanning could create an analysis for the employee of a foreign intelligence agency. German authorities did not determine if “the product” reached the recipient. Prosecutors also accuse Hanning of being in “intensive contact” with someone from the intelligence service of another country. “Over several years, he provided him with political information, partly based on material he had obtained from Manfred D. to create an analysis for the employee of a foreign intelligence security apparatus,” according to prosecutors.

Israeli Connection?

German media says that the foreign intel service in question is not Russian. However, it does not say that it’s not Israel. Israeli media made the connection between Hanning and Israel in its report on the arrest.

According to German prosecutors, the charges against Hanning stem from a search of his home and offices in September 2025. The search was related to the Christina Block kidnapping case. Block is a German restaurant heiress accused of hiring an Israeli security firm to kidnap her two children, then ages 10 and 13, from their father’s custody in Denmark, and bring them to Germany. The case involves six Israeli defendants.

According to journalist Max Blumenthal, Hanning is the one who introduced Block to the Israeli spying firm CGI Group. Blumenthal also claims that

Block used the Israelis to abduct her own children from her ex and plant fake images of child abuse on his phone. Hanning, who served on the board of another Israeli spying firm, arranged the operation through former Shin Bet chief Yaakov Peri.

Hanning started his own consulting firm after leaving the BND. Prosecutors allege that he worked out an arrangement where he paid Manfred D. for intel information.

This is the first time a former BND chief has been arrested.