Former German spy chief arrested over alleged buying of classified information

It was not immediately ​clear whether the analysis on the classified documents reached its intended recipient

Former German foreign intelligence chief August Hanning was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of ​paying for access to classified documents and using them ‌to prepare an analysis for a foreign intelligence service, federal prosecutors said.

Prosecutors did not identify the foreign intelligence service, and it was not immediately ​clear whether the analysis reached its intended recipient.

Prosecutors allege ​that five years after his tenure as head of ⁠the BND intelligence service ended in 2005, Hanning agreed with ​a former BND office manager to receive confidential intelligence information in ​exchange for payment.

The office manager, identified as Manfred D. in line with privacy rules, was also arrested on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said D. is suspected of having ​supplied around 2,000 documents over the years, including classified material ​intended solely for internal use within the BND and senior-level intelligence briefings ‌at ⁠the chancellery.

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According to prosecutors, Hanning used classified information supplied by D. to prepare an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service and for years shared political information with a representative ​of another foreign ​intelligence service.

According ⁠to information obtained by the SZ newspaper, the case does not involve Russia.

Hanning did not respond ​to a request for comment from Reuters. The ​BND declined ⁠to comment and referred to prosecutors. The chancellery declined to comment.

Police carried out arrests and searches in the states of Bavaria, North ⁠Rhine-Westphalia ​and Berlin on Tuesday, and both ​suspects were due to appear before a judge at the Federal Court of Justice, ​prosecutors added.