Trial of German steakhouse heiress that sparked a huge spy scandal

Trial of German steakhouse heiress that sparked a huge spy scandal

It is a case that has held Germany’s attention, with a wealthy heiress in the dock for months and proceedings that set off the country’s biggest espionage scandal in recent memory.

Christina Block, heir to a well-known steakhouse chain, is accused of instructing an Israeli security company to carry out the violent kidnapping of her children from Denmark after a bitter custody dispute with her former husband.

There are said to be links to at least two former intelligence agents, one German and one Israeli.

In the latest development, investigators working on the case uncovered material that led to the arrest this month of Germany’s former intelligence chief, August Hanning, on treason and espionage charges.

Hanning’s arrest shocked the intelligence world. Although his case is unrelated to the Hamburg trial, he has denied claims that he was involved in an earlier attempted abduction of the children.

There was intense media attention in Germany when Christina Block and six others went on trial in a high-security courtroom in Hamburg in July last year.

Block House restaurants, which specialise in steak and baked potatoes, are a familiar sight in many German towns. Their success over the past 50 years helped make Christina Block’s father Eugen a multimillionaire.

Prosecutors say she and a family lawyer, Andreas Costard, organised the forcible abduction of two of her children, who were staying with her former husband, Stephan Hensel, at his home in Denmark.

They say the operation was carried out by a 36-year-old Israeli citizen identified only as Jonathan G and five others.

According to the indictment, the abduction happened during the New Year celebrations of 2023-24, while the two children and their father were watching fireworks.

Prosecutors say several men ambushed and beat Stephan Hensel, then dragged the boy and girl, who were 10 and 13 at the time, into a car.

As they approached the border with Germany, they are alleged to have switched vehicles, taped the children’s mouths shut and tied the girl’s hands.

The group is then said to have continued to Baden-Württemberg in a campervan. Prosecutors say the children were held there against their will until their mother arrived to collect them on 2 January 2024 and took them to her home in Hamburg.

After Stephan Hensel and Christina Block separated, the children lived with their mother.

Christina Block, Andreas Costard and Jonathan G are charged with abduction of minors, grievous bodily harm and unlawful detention.

Block’s partner, former TV sports presenter Gerhard Delling, and three others are charged with aiding and abetting.

All deny wrongdoing except Jonathan G, who has admitted his role. He told the court, however, that he believed he was taking part in a rescue mission.

The trial follows years of legal disputes between Christina Block and her former husband, Stephan Hensel, over who had the right to care for the children.

Right after the separation, all four children lived with their mother in Hamburg. Hensel, who remarried, later moved to Denmark, where the children regularly visited him.

In 2021, the two youngest children went to visit their father in Denmark, but were then not returned to Hamburg as agreed.

A Hamburg court ruled that Christina had custody and that the children should be returned. But in February 2023, a Danish court ruled that although the boy and girl had been taken to Denmark unlawfully, they could not be sent back.

In May 2023, Hensel was charged with abduction of minors in a case that is still ongoing.

He has accused Christina of being violent toward the children, allegations she denies. She told the court that Hensel wanted revenge on her.

She also denied knowing anything about plans to abduct the children from Denmark. Her defence says the Israeli security team acted on its own initiative.

She told the court it was "a catastrophe" and that she had never wanted anything like that.

The head of the Israeli security team, David Barkay, who is not on trial but may face future proceedings, told the court that Christina Block and Costard knew about the planned repatriation operation.

Former foreign intelligence chief August Hanning was arrested after police investigating the Christina Block case searched his home

Barkay, who another witness described as a former Mossad agent, said he had not revealed all the details because he "didn't trust them."

The alleged link to Germany’s former spy chief, August Hanning, concerns accusations of an earlier attempt in 2022 to abduct the children and bring them back from Denmark.

Prosecutors have said Hanning was responsible for arranging security personnel sent to Denmark with Christina Block. His lawyer denies the allegations. Hanning has not been charged in the current Block court case.

However, while investigators were searching his home, they found evidence suggesting Hanning was involved in buying about 2,000 documents from his former chief of staff and then passing state secrets to foreign powers.

Which foreign power, and who he is alleged to have given the secrets to, has not been specified, but it has fuelled widespread speculation.

Now 80, Hanning is in custody on charges of treasonous espionage. His lawyer says he is being "unjustly persecuted" and that the charges are "unfounded".

Meanwhile, the trial of Christina Block is currently suspended for two weeks, one of many delays and extensions over the past 15 months.

The latest delay is because a witness, Stephan Hensel’s new wife, did not appear in court.