German spy loses compensation claim
November 24, 2016
A German spy fell in love with a Latvian woman in Riga and lost his job for violating policy. He has lost a legal battle against the BND intelligence agency.
The unnamed spy dated a Latvian woman while station chief in Riga, despite being instructed against having romantic relations with locals. Instead of informing the BND, he asked Latvia's intelligence agency to run a background check on his girlfriend, who came up clean.
Only after the Latvian woman had moved in with him did the station chief inform his superiors. That landed him in hot water, leading the BND to recall the spy and find him unfit for duty.
The man then sought compensation from the BND for lost earnings and other losses to the tune of 400,000 euros ($421,920).
A regional court in Munich ruled against the claim on Thursday and ordered the ex-spy to pay legal fees.
It is unknown whether the ex-spy and Latvian woman are still together, or keep in touch.
cw/jm (AP, dpa)