Former BND chief August Hanning on the board of Cosmolot's owner: what queries were sent to the regulator

The situation surrounding the online casino Cosmolot has taken on a new dimension after it became known that former head of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) August Hanning is the chairman of the board of directors of the American holding Nevada Gaming Holding. This company owns a controlling stake in SpaceX LLC, which is the operator of the Cosmolot platform. It was Hanning who was detained in Germany in October 2026 on suspicion of espionage and treason.

Details of the German investigation

According to Deutsche Welle, the detention of August Hanning, who headed the BND from 1998 to 2005, took place on 6 October 2026. His former subordinate, Manfred D., was also held. The following day, the court chose preventive detention as the preventive measure for the former intelligence chief.

According to the investigation, in the spring of 2010, Hanning agreed with Manfred D. to regularly pass on valuable information obtained at the BND in exchange for a reward. By June 2022, he allegedly passed around 2,000 documents to the former chief, many of which were classified. As German law enforcement officials claim, Hanning planned to use the obtained materials in his own consulting activities. In one case, according to the investigation, he prepared an analytical material based on secret information for an employee of a foreign intelligence service. However, law enforcement officials have not established whether this material reached its addressee.

German media have paid particular attention to a possible Russian trail. Meanwhile, DW materials note that the investigation is checking the version of Hanning's contacts with a representative of a foreign special service, while Der Spiegel reported a possible link with Azerbaijani intelligence. The name of the state in whose interests information may have been passed has not been officially confirmed. The case has already caused concern regarding the protection of state secrets and trust between the intelligence services of Germany's allies.

August Hanning's career and business assets

August Hanning was born on 16 February 1946 in Nordwalde (North Rhine-Westphalia state). He has a legal education from the universities of Münster and Freiburg and a doctorate in law. He began his civil service in 1981 at the Federal Chancellery. In 1986, he headed a unit at the Permanent Mission of the FRG in East Berlin, where he was responsible for internal security. After German reunification, he continued working at the Chancellery, and in 1996 became the coordinator of federal intelligence services.

December 1998 was marked by Hanning's appointment as head of the BND, a position he held until 2005. After that, he moved to the position of State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, where he worked until 2009.

After retiring, Hanning did not leave the security sector. In 2010, he founded the consulting firm Hanning Consult. According to CORRECTIV's investigation, the company's clients included Kazakhstan, as well as business contacts in Russia and China. In 2018, he joined the supervisory board of the Swiss Pluteos AG, which provides analytical and intelligence services. He also collaborated with the British G3, focusing on Russia and the post-Soviet space.

In 2018, the German company GSC4 GmbH was established, with shares owned by Hanning and members of his family. The firm specialised in analytics and investigations in the fields of Russia, the CIS, Eastern Europe, China, and Arab states. According to the financial report for 2024, GSC4's revenue was approximately €2.2 million. In June 2026, the company was liquidated.

It was the move to the private sector that became a key moment in the investigation. Law enforcement officials are checking whether Hanning used the secret BND documents obtained between 2010 and 2022 for commercial purposes. The former intelligence chief's lawyer denies the guilt, stating that possession of the materials did not imply their improper use.

Connection with the Ukrainian gambling market

August Hanning's name appears on the official website of Nevada Gaming Holding in the management section as the chairman of the board of directors. Arnulf Damerau is the President and CEO of the holding. On the company's website, Cosmolot is presented as an investment asset. At the end of October 2024, Nevada Gaming Holding announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in SpaceX LLC.

The presence of the former BND chief in the holding's management is not in itself evidence of the company's involvement in the espionage case. However, it raises questions about what checks were carried out by the Ukrainian regulator regarding the ownership structure and the reputation of the management of the business operating in Ukraine.

Attention had been drawn to Cosmolot before. Media linked the online casino to Serhiy Tokarev, who was named as the founder. In 2016, Tokarev was subjected to sanctions by the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC), which ceased to be in force in 2020. There were also publications about his possible trips to Moscow and occupied Crimea after 2014. In August 2026, the publication Antikor published a material stating that Tokarev, who is a resident of Diia City, allegedly influences the disappearance from the internet of information about his past and trips to the occupied peninsula.

In February 2024, the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) reported the seizure of UAH 700 million in the accounts of one of the major gambling operators, who was suspected of tax evasion. Sources from Economic Pravda indicated that it was about Cosmolot. Company representatives then denied the accusations and challenged the seizure of funds.

Queries to the regulator and the SBU

A separate reason for investigation arose in April 2026. On 22 April, the gambling market regulator PlayCity annulled the licence of SpaceX LLC and imposed fines amounting to almost UAH 13 million. The grounds were the use of P2P payments and accepting funds from third-party cards. However, on 24 April, the Kyiv District Administrative Court suspended the effect of this decision until the final resolution of the dispute. The company also stated that in January 2026, it had received a new five-year licence.

The StopCor editorial team sent a query to PlayCity requesting information on the validity of SpaceX LLC's licences, the grounds for their annulment, and the impact of court decisions. Particular attention was paid to the ownership structure: whether the licensee informed the regulator of a change of owners after the entry of Nevada Gaming Holding, and whether August Hanning appears in the company's documents as a manager, beneficiary, or person with significant participation.

The regulator was also asked whether it had checked the holding and its management for compliance with business reputation requirements, the origin of funds, and the absence of links with the aggressor state. Among the questions were also possible appeals by PlayCity to the SBU, the State Financial Monitoring Service, and the presence of information from the BES regarding the seizure of funds in 2024.

A separate query was sent to the Security Service of Ukraine to clarify whether Ukrainian law enforcement officials are aware of the circumstances of the German investigation regarding August Hanning and whether they are checking possible risks for Ukraine.

Recall that previously, the head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, again raised the issue of the operation of the gambling market and possible tax evasion. In his Facebook post, he stated that the schemes that the authorities fought under the previous leadership of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and PlayCity allegedly continue to operate.