Germany arrests ‘double agent’ for selling sensitive information

The German authorities have arrested a secret service employee who is said to have passed on hundreds of sensitive documents to the Americans. This also includes documents that would be intended for the NSA.

Various German media reported this on Friday. It would be a 31-year-old man who works for the Bundesnachrichtendienst, one of the three secret services of Germany. Bild claims that the man passed on 218 sensitive documents to the United States, including documents covered in the German investigation into the NSA wiretapping scandal. He was arrested on Wednesday.

The double agent allegedly first approached the Russians, but was blunt, reports the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. So he contacted the Americans via email, which happened two years ago. He would have offered BND documents. According to Bild, if he passed on information twice, he would have received approximately 10,000 euros from the American intelligence services. On another occasion it was 5,000 euros.

The German authorities are concerned as this is possibly one of the biggest scandals involving a double agent since World War II. They are currently investigating exactly how many documents the man had in his possession and wanted to sell to the Americans. It is not known exactly what information is involved. The US government declined to comment on the allegations.

The arrest of the alleged double agent comes just after the German federal prosecutor has started the criminal investigation against the American secret service NSA into the wiretapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel. The prosecutor believes he can prove sufficient. It is not clear whether the arrest is a direct result of that ongoing investigation.