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August Hanning, former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND, is under investigation on suspicion of acts related to espionage, disclosure of state secrets and treason. Details of the case have not yet been made public.
The investigation has renewed attention to allegations about Hanning’s possible role in a controversial case involving two children taken from Denmark to Germany in late 2024. The children are the offspring of German businesswoman Christina Block and her former husband, Stefan Hensel.
According to testimony Hensel previously gave in court, people linked to an Israeli security company seized the children and took them across the border. Hanning, who was reportedly on the company’s board at the time, is alleged to have played a role in the operation.
After Hanning was detained, his links to former Israeli intelligence officials also came under renewed scrutiny. Previous statements reported by the media alleged that former Mossad chief Danny Yatom knew about, or was connected to, the operation. Hensel said Hanning had contacted Yatom about the case. Yatom confirmed that he knew Hanning but denied involvement in taking the children.
Yaakov Peri, who led Israel’s domestic security service Shin Bet before heading a private security company, has also been named in the allegations. Legal documents claim Hanning approached Peri to form a team capable of carrying out the operation. Peri’s company has denied involvement in the incident and rejected the allegations.
German prosecutors searched Hanning’s residence in September 2025 as part of an investigation involving Christina Block and people connected to the child custody dispute. Some of the material seized during the operation was sent to Germany’s federal prosecutors, who handle espionage, national security and treason cases.
Hanning is a prominent former head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service, the BND. After leaving public service, he worked as an international security consultant and maintained ties with intelligence and security circles.
German media have also reported on his longstanding links to Israeli security and intelligence circles. Reports have said Hanning faced financial difficulties in recent years, but investigators have not publicly established a link between those circumstances and the current allegations.
The espionage investigation is proceeding alongside a trial in Hamburg over an alleged attempt to abduct the children. While the circumstances surrounding their transfer from Denmark to Germany are being examined, the new allegations against Hanning have broadened the scope of the case. Officials have not disclosed the evidence underlying the espionage allegations, and Hanning has not commented on the latest claims.
