Ex-German Spy Chief Arrested in Espionage Scandal; Israeli Links Emerge

Germany and Europe are grappling with a new espionage scandal following the arrest of August Hanning, the former head of the German intelligence agency BND. Hanning is suspected of providing classified information to foreign entities. Investigators also arrested Manfred D., Hanning's 64-year-old former chief of staff at the BND, who allegedly supplied Hanning with classified intelligence from the agency, even after his retirement.

According to the Federal Prosecutor General's investigation, Manfred D. began obtaining BND information for Hanning as early as the spring of 2010, for payment. Hanning intended to use this information in his private work as a security consultant. By June 2022, Manfred D. had supplied Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of them classified, including briefing materials for BND management. In at least one instance, Hanning allegedly used this information to prepare an analysis for an operative of a foreign security and intelligence apparatus, though Russia has been ruled out as the country involved.

Hanning is also reported to have been in contact with another intelligence operative from an unspecified country. Investigators reportedly uncovered the sensitive files during an investigation into a separate case involving the kidnapping of the children of steak restaurant heiress Christina Block. In that case, employees of an Israeli security company allegedly abducted the children from Denmark and brought them to Germany. Hanning was previously suspected of involvement in an earlier attempt to kidnap the Block children, a claim he denied.

The scandal has also drawn in former Israeli intelligence officials. Jakob Perry, former head of the Shin Bet, was previously suspected of being connected to the case, along with former Mossad operatives, one of whom implicated Perry. A woman named Tennenbaum, close to a former senior official in Unit 504, also testified in court in support of Block. The arrest of the former BND president is considered an unprecedented event in Germany's criminal history. Hanning held significant positions in German security even after leaving the BND, including serving as a deputy minister in the Interior Ministry until late 2009.