Former German intelligence chief August Hanning has been arrested on suspicion of espionage and treason, according to German media, in a case prosecutors are investigating as a major intelligence scandal.
Federal prosecutors are investigating Hanning and a second former intelligence service (BND) employee, identified as Manfred D., according to newspapers Bild and Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Hanning allegedly paid Manfred D. for classified information and may have passed it to a foreign power.
Police arrested Hanning at his home near Muenster on Tuesday, while Manfred D. was detained in Bavaria. Investigators also searched properties in Bavaria and Berlin.
Manfred D., Hanning’s former office director, allegedly supplied him with top-secret BND material for money until at least 2022.
Investigators believe about 2,000 documents were passed to Hanning, including sensitive reports on Iran’s nuclear programme and the Russian army.
The reports, prepared for high-level intelligence briefings at the Chancellery, also included material from foreign partner services.
German officials warned that such a leak could damage trust between the BND and allied intelligence agencies.
The media reports said the foreign intelligence service involved was not Russian, although some of the leaked files covered Russia.
