Selling the country for money? Former German intelligence chief arrested

According to reports from multiple German-language media including Der Spiegel Online, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Bild, WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, former German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) Director August Hanning was arrested at his residence in the Münster region of western Germany in the early morning of October 6. SPIEGEL ONLINE provided a detailed timeline of the arrest: at 6:41 a.m., SWAT troops stormed Hanning's home; at 8:58 a.m., Hanning was loaded into a black van and taken away from the scene.

Meanwhile, police carried out a similar operation in Bad Tölz‑Wolfratshausen in the southern German state of Bavaria, arresting former BND worker Manfred D.. Hanning served as BND Director from 1998‑2005, and Manfred was Hanning’s chief of staff. After Hanning retired, Manfred continued to serve many subsequent directors until his official retirement at the beginning of this year. He can be said to be one of the most core members of the informed circle within the Intelligence Agency.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung revealed that the two men were accused of leaking German national intelligence. The charges allege that Manfred provided confidential documents to Hanning, who then sold the information to third parties. The "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" also added that the intelligence it has obtained shows that this leak does not directly involve Russia. "Bild" reported that prosecutors alleged that Manfred had delivered as many as 2,000 internal documents marked as highly confidential to Hanning, who had long retired, by June 2022.

Are you betraying your country because of debts?

"Bild" further pointed out that after retirement, Hanning was mainly engaged in consulting work and served as a part-time supervisory board member in many companies, all of which were high-level positions. The media had previously exposed that Hanning was in financial trouble because he served as a member of the supervisory board of a bank in the Baltic states. The bank was mismanaged and sabotaged, and eventually declared bankruptcy. Hanning, who was a member of the Supervisory Board at the time, and former NATO Secretary-General Rasmussen, who was also a member of the board of directors, were both implicated in the bank's bankruptcy proceedings and were required to bear responsibility for the losses of the bank and its customers. This incident forced Hanning, who had a generous income and financial worries, into a personal financial crisis, and part of his pension was forced to be turned over to pay off debts.

The arrest was triggered by a high-profile case of "mother kidnapping her biological child." The suspect in the case, Christina Block, a wealthy Hamburg businesswoman, hired someone to kidnap her two young children and secretly sent them back to Germany because of a dispute with her ex-husband over child custody, in an attempt to gain "control" of the children. During the trial, it was discovered that Bullock was suspected of engaging in power and money transactions with former BND Director Hanning, using Hanning's connections to help her achieve the purpose of "apparently kidnapping but actually obtaining custody rights." For this reason, Hamburg prosecutors conducted searches at Hanning's home and office last year. Multiple media analysts believe the Oct. 6 raid and arrest are likely related to evidence obtained in a raid last year that showed Hanning sold classified intelligence.

It is reported that Manfred D. was brought before the judge in Karlsruhe that day, and Hanning will be tried the next day (October 7).