August Hanning, former head of the German BND foreign intelligence agency, which is Germany’s equivalent of the CIA, has been arrested on espionage charges in a shocking and unprecedented situation in which a country’s top intelligence officer and head of a national spy agency was caught spying for another state.
The 80-year-old faces formal charges including “treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage” – according to German media. While an official statement from the prosecutor’s office has not yet identified the foreign service he’s suspected of working for, Israel has been widely named, also given this past well-documented associations and links.
Curiously, Hanning’s arrest at his home in Nordwalde in western Germany comes a full two decades after he left the top intelligence post. He served as BND chief from December 1998 to November 2005 before moving to the Federal Interior Ministry.
In short, it appeared he not only illegally held on to thousands of classified documents, but used them over the years to peddle influence – including preparing a presentation for a foreign intelligence service based on the internal government docs. What’s more is he was covertly obtaining new documents even many years out of office.
Israeli media itself is highlighting that the way Hanning was caught actually involves shady Israeli operatives:
The affair rocking Germany involves thousands of classified documents, suspected payments, contacts with foreign intelligence officials and a surprising connection to Israel: The investigation that led to its exposure actually began with the case involving the abduction of millionaire heiress Christina Block’s children, in which Israelis were also implicated.
International reports at the time: “According to prosecutors, August Hanning, who once headed Germany’s domestic intelligence service, allegedly approached Peri [ex-Shin Bet head], now owner of the Israeli consulting firm CGI Group, to organize a team of Israeli operatives for the abduction. The team allegedly assaulted Hänsel, kidnapped the children, smuggled them into Germany, and handed them over to Block. A Danish court later ordered her to return the children to their father.”
