Overview

• Hamburg’s prosecutor executed 13 search warrants in Germany and Switzerland, including at security firm System 360 in Hamburg and locations in Berlin, Brandenburg and North Rhine‑Westphalia.
• Ex‑BND president August Hanning, 79, and a retired Hamburg LKA officer are suspected of acting as responsible heads of a security firm that took a six‑figure contract to retrieve the children in 2022, with potential use of force allegedly pre‑approved.
• The 2022 plan allegedly aimed to intercept the children on their school route in southern Denmark on November 9, but it collapsed after the father noticed suspicious individuals and called Danish police.
• The probe also examines a 2023 discreditation effort, with prosecutors alleging a hard drive containing hundreds of child‑abuse images and dozens of videos was planted on the father’s property to smear him and his legal adviser.
• Authorities are assessing any role by Hanning and the ex‑LKA officer in the New Year’s 2023/24 abduction; Hanning denies involvement, the Hamburg trial of Christina Block and others continues, and a reported confession by an Israeli co‑defendant has not been widely confirmed.