Busted: Kidnapping Probe Blows Open Alleged Treason Scheme Involving Germany's Former Spy Chief

German investigators who were looking into a possible kidnapping plot involving a steakhouse heiress apparently stumbled onto something with much bigger implications: the country's former spy chief may have been at the center of a years-long scheme to feed intelligence to a foreign power. 

August Hanning, who headed Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (also known as the BND) from 1998 to 2005, was arrested Tuesday in Bad Toelz-Wolfratshausen in southern Germany and accused of passing state secrets to the unidentified foreign intelligence agency. The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that Hanning, 80, is “strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, spying out state secrets, attempted treason, and espionage."

Germany’s former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning has been arrested on suspicion of treason and accused of selling state secrets to a foreign power https://t.co/9rdNT79qBA https://t.co/UPARUrfEpU

— Financial Times (@FT) October 6, 2026

A former Hanning aide, identified only as Manfred D., was also arrested Tuesday and has now been charged with aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage.

Authorities say Manfred D. worked as Hanning's chief of staff for many years and "had access to confidential information." The pair allegedly agreed back in 2010 to have Manfred D. "continuously" transmit sensitive material to Hanning in exchange for money. 

“The current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information to be used exclusively by the federal intelligence service for internal purposes, particularly for executive intelligence briefings,” the prosecutor's statement said.

Hanning apparently then used Manfred D.'s information in his private consulting work, and once “used classified intelligence provided by Manfred D. to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service.” The prosecutor's office did not reveal which country Hanning worked for, but said “it has yet to be determined if the material reached the intended recipient.”

Hanning's alleged intelligence misdeeds came to light as part of the investigation into whether Christina Block, that steakhouse heiress, may have hired the former spy chief to kidnap her children from the custody of their father and her ex-husband. His house has since been searched, but there's no word on whether or not he'll be facing additional charges.

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