Who is August Hanning? The former German spy chief accused of espionage and treason; he allegedly sold 2000 secret documents for money

Former German foreign intelligence chief August Hanning has been arrested on suspicion of espionage and treason, years after he left his position as head of the country's Federal Intelligence Service (BND). The case is now described as Germany's "biggest espionage scandal of the century." German prosecutors allege that Hanning, five years after his tenure as BND chief ended in 2005, reached an agreement with a former BND office manager to receive confidential intelligence information in exchange for payment. The former office manager, identified as Manfred D. under German privacy rules, was also arrested on Tuesday.

What are the allegations against August Hanning?

Prosecutors allege that Manfred D. supplied around 2,000 documents to Hanning over several years including classified documents intended only for internal use within the BND, as well as high-level intelligence briefings prepared for the German Chancellery.

According to prosecutors, Hanning used some of the classified information supplied by D. to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service. Prosecutors also allege that he shared political information for years with a representative of another foreign intelligence service.

The authorities have not identified the foreign intelligence services involved. It was also not immediately clear whether the analysis prepared by Hanning ultimately reached its intended recipient. According to information obtained by German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), the case does not involve Russia.

Who is August Hanning?

August Hanning was born on February 16, 1946, in Nordwalde, Westphalia. He studied law at the universities of Münster and Freiburg and later worked as a judicial clerk and research assistant. In 1981, he began working at the German Federal Chancellery. In 1986, Hanning became a head of division at the Permanent Mission of the Federal Republic of Germany to the then German Democratic Republic in East Berlin. He subsequently held several positions at the Federal Chancellery. In 1998, he became president of the Federal Intelligence Service, Germany's foreign intelligence agency. He remained in the position for seven years, until 2005.

After leaving the BND in 2005, Hanning became State Secretary at Germany's Federal Ministry of the Interior. He remained in government until 2009 and returned to the private sector in 2010. He subsequently worked as an attorney and legal consultant.