Ex-chief of German intelligence service Hanning arrested for espionage

BERLIN - August Hanning, the former head of Germany's BND foreign intelligence service, has been arrested on suspicion of espionage.

The 80-year-old is under investigation for attempted treason and acting as an agent for a foreign intelligence service, the Federal Public Prosecutor General confirmed on Tuesday.

Hanning led the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) between 1998 and 2005, before becoming a private security adviser.

A former BND employee was also detained on suspicion of supplying his former boss with confidential information after Hanning left the service.

German media reported that the foreign intelligence service was not Russian.

In Latvia, Hanning was a member of the board of the insolvent PNB Bank. The bank's administrator Vigo Krastins has filed a lawsuit to recover EUR 32 million from former members of the bank's management and supervisory boards for losses caused to the bank. Among them is Hanning, whose house has been impounded.