In Germany, the prosecutor general has officially charged the former head of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) and his accomplice with treason in favor of Russia.
This is reported by the BBC.
According to German media, the suspect Karsten L. worked in technical intelligence, and then headed a unit dealing with security and data verification. Prosecutors believe that he shared intelligence about the war in Ukraine and the PMC "Wagner" and received approximately €400 000 for it.
A German businessman born in Russia Artur E. is accused of traveling to Moscow and passing intelligence to the Russian FSB. German media claim that Arthur E. was a diamond dealer. The partners are believed to have met for the first time at a private party at a soccer club in Bavaria in 2021. Then Karsten L. told Artur about his work at the BND.
Both spies may face life imprisonment.
- The arrest of the BND employee became known on December 22, when the Federal Committee of Germany accused him of passing state secrets to Russia in 2022. In recent years, Germany has convicted several people who spied for Russia. However, the double agent in the Federal Intelligence Service was announced for the first time since 2014. Spiegel, citing his own sources, wrote that a Russian spy in the BND was helped to expose data from Western intelligence.
- In December, Arthur E. was detained at the Munich airport after arriving from the USA.
- German publications do not report the full names of the accused, but they were previously revealed by other media. According to their data, the accused are named Karsten Linke and Arthur Eller.