Germany has arrested a former intelligence agency director on charges of espionage by providing classified information to foreign countries and treason. Authorities also apprehended another accomplice.
On Tuesday, 6 Oct 2026 GMT+7, Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office announced the arrest of August Henning, former director of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), who served from 1998 to 2005, on charges of delivering classified information to foreign states, espionage, and treason.
Additionally, police arrested Manfred D., a former senior BND official who once headed Henning's office and worked at the BND until 2026. Manfred is accused of secretly accessing and copying over 2,000 classified government documents and passing them to Henning in exchange for financial rewards over several years.
Prosecutors stated that Henning used BND classified information to write analyses for intelligence officials of one country, maintained close contact with intelligence representatives of another, and handed over political information over many years. The prosecutors did not disclose the names of the foreign countries involved.
Henning's wrongdoing was exposed after police accidentally found secret BND documents during an investigation into Christina Block, heiress to a famous steakhouse chain, who is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping of her two children in a custody dispute. Henning was suspected of involvement in a prior kidnapping attempt of Block’s children but denied any connection.
However, investigators searched and found electronic storage devices containing secret BND documents hidden, leading to Henning's arrest in this case.
This is not the first time the BND has faced a mole scandal. In 2023, a senior official named Carsten L. was charged with treason for passing classified information about the Ukraine war to Russia in exchange for approximately 400,000 euros. That case is still under judicial review.
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Source:BBC