The Federal Intelligence Service wants to use everything it has to signal that nothing unauthorized is allowed in or out here. The sealed off building complex on Berlin's Chausseestrasse stretches 280 meters long. Anyone who has an appointment inside must first lock up all technical devices in the anteroom: risk of eavesdropping and eavesdropping. The BND knows that absolute confidentiality is a prerequisite for the work of an intelligence service.
The espionage scandal that came to light on Tuesday morning is all the more shocking for the house: a former president of the house, August Hanning, is said to have had his former office manager provide him with information for years in return for payment, which Hanning in turn sold lucratively. And even worse: the BND, the intelligence specialist, didn't even notice it themselves. It was only through Hanning's involvement in the trial against Christina Block over the kidnapping of her children that the Hamburg investigators discovered him and his accomplice and informed the BND in Berlin.
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The suspicion of treason by its own people hits the authority at an extremely sensitive time. The BND is facing its biggest reform; it is to be given significantly more powers. In order for the relevant law to get through the Bundestag, politicians need to have trust in the service. Some politicians may also be shocked by what has been going on on Chausseestrasse for years.
After politics, Hanning became a consultant
The Federal Prosecutor General is investigating Hanning on strong suspicion of treasonous spying and spying on state secrets. Hanning is also accused of attempted treason and acting as a secret service agent. These are allegations that the BND normally makes against people who want to harm Germany and who pose a threat to security. But this time it hits our own former president. After the end of his civil service, Hanning is said to have illegally obtained classified information from the BND for money for years and sold it to employees of foreign secret services.
The octogenarian is scheduled to be brought before the investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday. BND President Martin Jäger said on Tuesday about the events surrounding his predecessor: "The BND initiated extensive internal investigations early and immediately, which confirmed the suspicions. The Federal Prosecutor General has taken over the investigation. For the BND and me, there are no compromises when it comes to internal security. None of my goals, none of my priorities are called into question by this process."
A former BND employee, Manfred D., who was Hanning's former office manager, is said to have provided Hanning with information. The investigators accuse him of complicity in attempted treason and treasonous spying. As early as spring 2010, the two are said to have agreed that Manfred would provide D. Hanning with ongoing information in exchange for money. Manfred D. also served as office manager for later BND presidents; In this role he had access to a lot of secret information. It is still unclear what sums were paid in return for the information. Manfred D. has been retired since March 2026.
After leaving politics, Hanning took up private consulting work; According to the Federal Prosecutor General, he wanted to profitably exploit the information he had obtained from the BND. Over the years - according to the current status of the investigation up to June 2022 - Manfred D. Hanning made almost 2,000 documents available, including information that was often classified as classified. It was information that was used for the “intelligence situation” in the Chancellery.
Amused by the prosecution
In one case, Hanning used classified information provided by Manfred D. to prepare an analysis for an employee of a “foreign intelligence security apparatus,” the Federal Prosecutor General said. It is still unclear whether this analysis actually reached the customer. Hanning was also “in intensive contact with a member of another state intelligence service.” He provided him with political information for several years, partly based on material he had received from Manfred D. According to information from the F.A.Z. Hanning's contacts are not supposed to be Russian services. As “Spiegel” reports, Hanning’s alleged client is said to be a man from Azerbaijan’s secret service.
Hanning is a colorful figure who has so far shown little fear of the investigative authorities. He has repeatedly made headlines in recent months - but because of completely different allegations: his name keeps coming up in the Hamburg trial against Christina Block. It's about the kidnapping of the two Block children on New Year's Eve 2023 from their father's care in Denmark. Christina Block, the daughter of the steakhouse founder, is said to have ordered this kidnapping. She has therefore been in court for more than a year and denies the allegations.
The kidnapping was preceded by a years-long custody dispute over the two children, in which Hanning is said to have played a role. In September 2025, investigators searched his private and business premises. They seized numerous documents and devices.
The investigators suspected him of having accepted an order worth more than 100,000 euros for an earlier attempt to kidnap the children, as the person in charge of the security company System 360 at the time. He is also said to have been involved in attempts to discredit the children's father with false accusations of pedophilia. The investigators listened to Hanning for several months and infiltrated an undercover agent into System 360.
De Maizière separated from Hanning
Hanning has always denied the allegations related to the Block family. He didn't comment publicly on it for a long time, then an interview with TV Berlin appeared in May in which he criticized the public prosecutor's office in an amusing tone - and presented the allegations as the result of activist investigative work.
He only briefly advised Christina Block twice, he told the F.A.Z. a few months ago. The order to the company System 360 was simply about observing the children and attempting to contact the mother; it had nothing to do with it. He also had nothing to do with the “creation and distribution” of the pedophilia material that was to be blamed on the father. The TV Berlin interview is no longer available.
According to information from the F.A.Z. At the request of the Israeli David B., Hanning forwarded documents to the responsible German authorities, which accused two other people of pedophilia. At least one of the two is connected to the Block case. B. wants to know Hanning through Israeli friends. Hanning later said that he did not know at the time that B. had also worked for Block.
David B. is one of the central figures in the Block trial; he is said to have coordinated and been responsible for the kidnapping of the children. His company conducted cybersecurity testing for the Block Group in previous months. The Hanning case is not yet closed for the Hamburg authorities: “The investigations are ongoing,” said a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office on Tuesday when asked. Hanning could not initially be reached for comment.
Before his extremely troubled retirement, Hanning had already had an impressive civil service career. From 1981, Hanning headed the Department for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety in the Federal Chancellery under Helmut Schmidt (SPD). In 1986 he moved to the legal department of the West German permanent representation in the GDR, where he later became a secret security officer. In 1998 Hanning became BND president.
After the change of government, he went to the Federal Ministry of the Interior as State Secretary under Minister Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU). Thomas de Maizière (CDU), who became Interior Minister in 2009, put Hanning into temporary retirement with immediate effect immediately after taking office. At the time, there was speculation that Hanning lacked the necessary loyalty.
