Prosecutors launch case against CIA double agent
Federal prosecutors have brought charges against a former worker at Germany's foreign intelligence agency who is suspected of passing information to American spies.
The 32-year-old former Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) worker is accused of treason, infringing official secrets and corruption after passing secrets to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in exchange for cash.
Prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that they had filed charges at the state court (Oberlandesgericht) in Munich.
The alleged spy joined the BND in 2007 and worked for the CIA from 2008, they said.
He passed documents and confidential internal information about the work and personnel of the BND to his American handlers in exchange for payments totalling €95,000.
His downfall came in July 2014, when he was caught passing three classified documents to the Russian consulate in Munich.
A search of the accused's computer last year showed that he had a list including the real and cover names of 3,500 BND agents abroad on his hard drive.
"The accused caused a serious risk of harm to the foreign security of the Federal Republic of Germany," prosecutors wrote.
It has not yet been made public whether he passed the agents' identities to any foreign government.
Treason carries a minimum sentence of a year in prison, although more serious cases can see sentences of between five years and life.
The case caused uproar in German politics and led to the government expelling the CIA station chief in Berlin last July, when tensions over National Security Agency (NSA) spying in Germany reached fever pitch.
SEE ALSO: German police can't crack 'CIA double agent' laptop
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The 32-year-old former Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) worker is accused of treason, infringing official secrets and corruption after passing secrets to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in exchange for cash.
Prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that they had filed charges at the state court (Oberlandesgericht) in Munich.
The alleged spy joined the BND in 2007 and worked for the CIA from 2008, they said.
He passed documents and confidential internal information about the work and personnel of the BND to his American handlers in exchange for payments totalling €95,000.
His downfall came in July 2014, when he was caught passing three classified documents to the Russian consulate in Munich.
The case caused uproar in German politics and led to the government expelling the CIA station chief in Berlin last July, when tensions over National Security Agency (NSA) spying in Germany reached fever pitch.
SEE ALSO: German police can't crack 'CIA double agent' laptop
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