The indictment of American ex-defense contractor Martin D. on espionage charges has been filed by the office of the German prosecutor with the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany. Image: Ronald Wittek/EPA via Politico Image: Ronald Wittek/EPA via Politico.
(The Post News) – The office of the German Federal Prosecutor announced that they have indicted an American man who formerly worked at a U.S. military facility in Germany on espionage charges. Prosecutors allege the suspect offered to spy and provide sensitive U.S. military information to Chinese intelligence.
In their Monday announcement, the prosecutors identified him only as Martin D. They revealed the man, who is in his late thirties, was employed by a civilian firm contracted to the U.S. Defense Department between 2017 and early 2023. From at least 2020, he was stationed at an unidentified U.S. military base in Germany. In line with German privacy laws, officials did not provide his full name or further personal details.
The statement says Martin D. contacted Chinese authorities repeatedly during the summer of 2024 and declared his willingness to engage in espionage. However, German media reported that he apparently did not manage to transfer any classified information before his arrest.
Martin D was detained in Frankfurt in early November and has been in police custody since. The indictment, filed earlier this month with the state court in Koblenz, accuses him of “offering himself as an agent to a foreign intelligence service.” The court will now decide whether the case proceeds to trial.
The case is not an isolated incident and adds to a string of espionage investigations tied to China. One high-profile case involved the arrest of a former employee of Maximilian Krah, a European Parliament lawmaker from the far-right Alternative for Germany party. That suspect is accused of spying and transmitting information from the European Parliament and monitoring Chinese opposition figures in Germany.
Additionally, days before Martin D.’s detention, American and European officials were collaborating on a probe into the recent explosions at DHL logistics hubs in Germany and the U.K. They question if it was linked to a broader espionage and sabotage campaign by Russia’s military intelligence agency.
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