German magazine Der Spiegel reported Tuesday evening that former German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) chief August Hanning is suspected of gathering information for Azerbaijann. The report came hours after German prosecutors disclosed that Hanning, who headed Germany’s foreign intelligence service had been arrested on suspicion of espionage and treason. Authorities had said earlier that he was suspected of seeking to pass classified information to a foreign country’s intelligence service, prompting hours of speculation around the world over which country was involved.
Der Spiegel reported Tuesday evening that, according to information obtained by the magazine, the person who commissioned the classified information from Hanning was an Azerbaijani intelligence operative. Investigators are now examining whether a security analysis Hanning prepared for the Azerbaijani operative, using classified information obtained from a senior BND official, ultimately reached him.
The magazine noted that Hanning’s ties with Azerbaijani representatives are well documented. Among other things, he was a board member of the German-Azerbaijani Forum, as documented in an organization statement published in July 2025.
Hanning, 80, served as head of the BND from 1998 to 2005. According to reports, he was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in Nordwalde, near the western German city of Münster. His former aide, identified only as Manfred D., was also arrested in Bavaria.
Prosecutors did not say at the time of Hanning’s arrest which country he was suspected of spying for. They said, however, that his alleged accomplice, D., who served as Hanning’s chief of staff and remained a senior BND official until March 2026, supplied him with thousands of classified documents in exchange for money over a period of more than a decade. Searches were conducted at the homes of Hanning and his alleged accomplice as part of the investigation.
D., who served as Hanning’s chief of staff while Hanning headed the BND and then as chief of staff to subsequent BND chiefs from 2012 to 2026, had access through his position to the classified information he allegedly passed to Hanning.
Prosecutors said the two are suspected of reaching an agreement as early as spring 2010 under which D. would regularly provide Hanning with valuable BND intelligence in exchange for payment.
“Current findings indicate that over the years Manfred D. passed around 2,000 documents to Hanning, many of which contained classified information intended solely for internal use by the Federal Intelligence Service, particularly for intelligence briefings of senior agency officials,” prosecutors said Tuesday morning.
Prosecutors also said Hanning used the classified information in his work as a security consultant for companies.
Hanning at the time of his arrest Tuesday morning. An electronic storage device containing the information was found at his home
(Photo: Spiegel TV)
German newspaper Bild reported earlier Tuesday that Hanning worked as a consultant for businesses around the world and was also known to have ties to Russia and China, including government agencies in those countries. The newspaper said this meant he also allegedly had links to the Kremlin.
Around the same time as his arrest, several German media outlets, including public broadcaster WDR, published a joint investigation reporting that the arrested aide had passed classified information to Hanning at least through 2022.
Investigators are examining suspicions that, in at least one case, Hanning used the information to conduct a “security analysis” for a foreign intelligence service. The analysis was unrelated to Russia and Der Spiegel’s latest report indicates that it was prepared for the Azerbaijani agent.
In another case, according to the joint media investigation published earlier Tuesday, Hanning is suspected of using internal BND documents in dealings with a foreign agent.
According to reports, the espionage suspicions emerged during a separate investigation into Hanning’s alleged role in the kidnapping of the children of steakhouse empire heiress Christina Block. Israelis have also been implicated in the case and are suspected of being part of a group Block allegedly hired to abduct her children, Klara and Theodor, while they were staying with her former husband in Denmark on New Year’s Eve 2024.
Block is currently on trial in a case that has gripped Germany. Hanning was allegedly involved in an earlier attempt to abduct the children, a claim he denies.
The latest investigation reported that while examining equipment seized from Hanning’s home and office in September 2025 as part of the kidnapping investigation, investigators discovered an electronic storage device containing the classified BND information.
The material immediately raised suspicions because Hanning, who had left his position as BND chief in November 2005, should not have had access to it.
Overall, D. allegedly passed around 2,000 documents to Hanning. According to the media investigation, many were briefings prepared for weekly “situation meetings” at the German Chancellery, where the heads of Germany’s security agencies exchange intelligence.
Christina Block. The kidnapping investigation led to the discovery of the alleged treason
(Photo: Marcus Brandt/AFP)
The investigation said the documents concerned highly sensitive matters, including Iran’s nuclear program and the Russian military.
“Security officials note that the documents also included information received from foreign intelligence agencies that are partners of Germany. A leak of such material is considered an extremely serious failure within intelligence services. Intelligence agencies of allied countries could lose confidence in the BND and stop providing it with vital information,” WDR reported.
If Hanning is convicted of the most serious charge against him, espionage constituting treason, he could face between six months and 10 years in prison.