As of: 01/26/2023 4:12 p.m
Arthur E. is said to have given information from a BND employee to a Russian secret service and also paid for it. His arrest followed ARD information to an extensive statement to US authorities.
In the morning, the federal prosecutor issued a press release about Arthur E.’s arrest. According to this, he was arrested by officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office when he entered Munich from the USA. The press release expressly refers to the fact that the US Federal Police FBI supported the investigation.
According to information from ARD Capital Studios Arthur E. was noticed by the Americans when he wanted to leave the USA. For whatever reason, he is said to have stated that he worked for intelligence services. The US authorities are said to have detained and questioned him. As the ARD Capital Studio found out in security circles, E. is said to have unpacked extensively and talked about his role in the BND treason case. The story sounds like something out of a spy thriller.
money for information
As the federal prosecutor announced, Arthur E. is said to have been the middleman. Accordingly, he received the information that a BND employee is said to have revealed and brought it to Russia to hand it over to a Russian secret service. The alleged traitor, BND employee Carsten L., was arrested on December 21. The federal prosecutor’s office is investigating him for treason. He has been in custody since then.
It is unclear what the motivation was for L. to have acted. According to information from ARD Capital Studios he is said to have been frustrated at the BND. But that alone certainly doesn’t explain the case of treason. It is likely to weigh more heavily that L. was not only politically far right, but also disenchanted with the state, it is said that he had become radicalized and lost confidence in the state. In this respect, there is much to suggest that he could have acted out of conviction. Reports that L. had been blackmailed and could therefore have decided to reveal information to a Russian secret service apparently belong to the realm of speculation. In fact, he is said to have received money from Arthur E. for the information, according to security circles.
Alleged accomplice not a BND employee
Arthur E. is a German citizen but is said to have a German-Russian background. He is not an employee of the Federal Intelligence Service, emphasizes the press release from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. However, the question is how and why the two men came into contact.
According to information from ARD Capital Studios from security circles they are said to have met in 2020. Apparently not in an official, but in a more private context, it is said. How exactly is still unclear. After that there was no contact for a long time, until it was resumed last year and was very intensive. Arthur E.’s picture is still blurred, he is said to trade in precious metals and stones.
It is unclear what information was shared
How serious the case is depends on what information Carsten L. revealed to the Russian side from the BND if the allegations are confirmed. L. worked for years as an analyst, as a so-called assessor in the technical reconnaissance of the BND. The area is responsible for communication monitoring and for evaluating and making usable any security-related findings that are gained in the process. This part of the BND is still based in Pullach, where the BND headquarters were located before the foreign intelligence service moved to Berlin.
how NDR, WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported two weeks ago, L. is said to have been promoted a few months before his arrest and transferred to Berlin. There he should have been responsible for security checks in the area of the BND’s own security. There he would have had access to all information about the BND personnel. For a foreign intelligence agency, a source at this point would have been a major win. However, according to security circles, L. had only been in the new post for a very short time when he was arrested.
What was actually revealed is the most sensitive part of the story. L. is said to have shared information about an ongoing BND technical reconnaissance operation. It would be particularly explosive if a foreign partner service of the BND had been involved.
Initially, the BND’s internal investigators targeted a colleague of Carsten L. in Technical Reconnaissance after a partner service reported that they had come across internal BND material. They were therefore also listed as suspects in the investigation by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, but are now considered unincriminated. Apparently she only acted on instructions from Carsten L. without knowing what was really going on. It is not yet possible to quantify the value of the information that the Russians may have received and how great the damage is for the BND. Only the image damage cannot be denied.