Germany's top former spy leaked British secrets, MI6 fears

Published: 20:33 EDT, 6 October 2026 | Updated: 20:42 EDT, 6 October 2026 MI6 has launched a probe into whether state secrets were leaked after a former top spy in Germany was arrested.Secret services across the West were shaken yesterday after August Hanning, who ran Germany’s BND intelligence agency between 1998 and 2005, was arrested on charges including ‘attempted treason’ and ‘espionage’.The damning allegations mark the biggest intelligence scandal in Germany since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. It is understood that Mr Hanning handled top secret information from other agencies abroad making it possible that British intelligence had been compromised. This has sparked widespread concerns among spies that sources, such as agents or informants operating in the field, could be identified through information that had been shared. And now, MI6 and GCHQ are understood to be carrying out a systematic internal review of all sensitive information shared with European allies during the relevant period.The Daily Telegraph reported that the agencies are looking to safeguard sources who may have been put at risk by the alleged leak. Prosecutors in Germany have accused Mr Hanning of paying for secret documents and using them in an analysis for a foreign spy service. They did not identify the intelligence service and it was not immediately clear whether the analysis reached its intended recipient. Pictured: August Hanning who ran Germany’s BND intelligence agency between 1998 and 2005, and was arrested on charges including ‘attempted treason’ and ‘espionage’. Mi6's headquarters in Vauxhall. MI6 and GCHQ are understood to be carrying out a systematic internal review of all sensitive information shared with European allies during the relevant period.‘Hanning is strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, obtaining state secrets, attempted treason and espionage,’ the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.The Spiegel news magazine reported late on Tuesday that investigators were pursuing a possible connection to Azerbaijan. It reported Mr Hanning had been in contact with an agent from the country.Mr Hanning’s former chief of staff, partially named as Manfred D., was also arrested on suspicion of ‘aiding and abetting attempted treason and treasonous espionage’.Premises linked to both men are being searched in several locations including Berlin.Prosecutors said Manfred D. also served as the chief of staff for Mr Hanning’s successors between 2012 and 2026.They allege that he used this role to gain access to confidential information which he then passed on to Mr Hanning ‘in exchange for remuneration’.This includes around 2,000 documents that contained top secret material.Prosecutors said: ‘The current findings suggest that, over the years, Manfred D. provided Hanning with approximately 2,000 documents, many of which contained classified information to be used exclusively by the Federal Intelligence Service for internal purposes.’They further allege that ‘on one occasion, Hanning used classified intelligence... to draft an analysis for an officer of a foreign intelligence service’, although it is not clear if ‘the material reached the intended recipient’.Mr Hanning is also accused of being ‘in close contact with a representative of another foreign intelligence service, to whom he passed on political information, partially based on material provided by Manfred D., for several years’.