He is said to have betrayed BND secrets to Russia, and a co-defendant heavily incriminated him. Now Carsten L. spoke out himself for the first time: He denied the betrayal and gave insight into his work and his views.
“Someone who has an ass in his pants” who can move around the countries of Africa or Ukraine and Russia “unconstrained” and “safely” – with these requirements, long-time BND employee Carsten L. describes why he met co-defendant Arthur E. wanted to hire him as a source for his intelligence service and even arranged for it to be given “intelligence use” (NDV) status.
Carsten L. and Arthur E. are charged with two counts of serious treason before the Berlin Court of Appeal. The former is said to have given secret BND documents to his alleged accomplice, which he is said to have handed over to employees of the Russian domestic secret service FSB in Moscow.
Arthur E. had described in detail how all of this happened in several interviews and in court. Carsten L. remained silent until the 19th day of the trial: He answered the questions of the judges and the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
A “windy” friend and Business partner?
With his lawyer Johannes Eisenberg, he now portrayed Arthur E. as an “imposter”, “swindler” and “talker” whose statements could not be trusted. When they met Carsten L. on August 1, 2022 in a beer garden, he had doubts about his business projects in the mining and trading of gold, diamonds and rare earths in Africa. The offer to get started seemed too “windy” to him and a business plan was nothing more than a list of costs.
Nevertheless, at a meeting a few days later, Carsten L. got involved in a cryptocurrency deal that Arthur E. offered to him during a barbecue evening. According to the former Bundeswehr officer and BND agent, he purchased cryptocurrency for 10,000 euros.
According to the investigation, Carsten L. asked the 33-year-old for information about things that affected his wife and daughter until shortly before his arrest on December 22, 2022. They no longer believed Arthur E. for a long time; he wanted to “bug” the families with “investment offers.”
As evidence of Arthur Es’ “criminal behavior”, lawyer Eisenberg submitted a request for evidence on the “OSCE facts”. Accordingly, Arthur E. used a fake diplomatic ID card from the security organization. He repeatedly parked his Porsche Cayenne in no-parking zones with a “CD” sticker and tried to identify himself as a diplomat. He also made money from corona tests and vaccination certificates.
Meetings that shouldn’t have happened
According to Carsten L., three meetings that Arthur E. described as essential to the betrayal did not take place at all or took place later. The two of them met with the businessman Visa M. from Russia not on September 12, 2022, but only in “mid/end of October 2022”.
The timing is important because the businessman and Carsten L. agreed at this meeting that they could do “something good for each other” – although, according to Arthur Es, this could mean both the personal relationship as well as Germany and Russia. Shortly afterwards, Carsten L. announced that he had material for Russia.
The BND agent denied all of this. He only spoke to Visa M. about his origins in Chechnya and his residence status in Germany. Accordingly, the businessman wanted to acquire a permanent residence permit for Germany. According to Carsten L., there was nothing he could do – unless Visa M. also became an NDV, i.e. informant, for the BND. Apparently Visa M. didn’t respond to this.
Nevertheless, in December 2022, Carsten L. gave a colleague the order to check the status of Visa M. on the grounds that he wanted to establish a source. The BND is not a normal agency, that’s how the intelligence service works, Carsten L. explained the rather casual approach.
Where did that come from? Treason material?
In a further application for evidence, Eisenberg and Carsten L’s second lawyer Phillipp Bruckmann explained in detail why their client could not have handed over “treason material” to Arthur E. on September 23 and October 4, 2022, for technical and time reasons, as he had presented it . The lawyers requested that several BND employees and BKA investigators be heard to prove this.
If this is the case, it would have to be clarified how copies of files could get to Arthur E.’s cell phone and ultimately to the FSB secret service in Russia. Arthur E. traveled to Moscow shortly after the two alleged meetings, allegedly financed by businessman Visa M., who is also said to have organized the meetings with two FSB employees named Pawel and Gassan.
“Agent attitude”
What Carsten L. admitted: He arranged for Arthur E. to be “smuggled” through airport security upon his return from Russia on October 9th and November 11th, 2022 by BND colleagues. In the case of Arthur E., “smuggling” is intended to provide accompaniment and support in the event of possible problems with customs.
That didn’t cost the BND anything, Carsten L asserted. It was about conveying an “agent attitude.” Something like this could offer a greater incentive than financial offers. Arthur E. should have felt important.
However, on both occasions Arthur E. did not bring with him what Carsten L. had hoped for: information about the surveillance of Western embassies in Moscow by the Russian security authorities and possibly even a list of embassy employees who should be on the “payroll” of Russian services. Arthur E. had told Carsten L. during a conversation in the Berlin brothel “Artemis” that he had a contact in the security authorities who still owed him something.
Carsten L. justified Arthur E.’s involvement with the clarification of “irregularities” at the German embassy in Moscow – a possible leak of information about a compromised employee – outside of his official informant activity for states in Africa.
500 euro notes
Carsten L. also admitted to meeting Arthur E. in Munich after his return from Moscow on November 11, 2022. The fact that Arthur E. made contact with the local Degussa branch helped him get over the disappointment of the material not being delivered again. He was greeted there like a good acquaintance.
Carsten L. set up a locker there on Arthur Es’ recommendation. During the search, investigators found 400,000 euros in cash in 500 euro notes. Like Arthur E., Carsten L. also declared a preference for the highest euro note, which has not been issued for several years. According to Carsten L., he had private relationships with a paying agent where he exchanged 500 euro notes.
The former BND department head explained that he had so much cash at all with an inheritance, profits from crypto and gold transactions and his income from the BND. In addition, his wife had kept a “surprising” amount of “shoe money” amounting to 210,000 euros in a textile suitcase on the floor.
Trapped?
Both defendants give the impression that they were lured into a trap. Carsten L. was impressed by Arthur Es’s high-ranking contacts in Africa, which he was able to prove. Arthur E. quickly realized that Carsten L. worked for the BND. Arthur E. immediately saw through the usual legend of working for the “Office of Military Affairs” (AMK).
While Arthur E. relies on a reduction in punishment through extensive statements, Carsten L. denies any betrayal, including the alleged motivation. He is neither reactionary nor an AfD sympathizer. He was looking forward to his new task in Berlin, far from his Bavarian homeland. He viewed the structural reform at the BND critically, but supported it constructively. He wanted to help the BND with his research.
Now it will be up to the federal prosecutor and defense attorneys to prove and refute the respective allegations down to the last detail. This is likely to extend well beyond the summer.