A 31-year-old member of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) administration department in Pullach (Germany’s Foreign Intelligence Agency) was arrested this last week on suspicion of spying. When arrested by the country’s federal prosecutor, it was believed that the man had been spying for the Russians, but after questioning, it was found that instead he had been spying for the U.S.

It was reported by German newspaper Der Spiegel, that after contacting the U.S. Embassy by email, the alleged German spy went on to collect 200-300 secret documents, save them to a USB stick and pass them off to the NSA between the years 2012 and 2014. He was paid several tens of thousands of Euros for his clandestine deal. German prosecutors said that the man handed over a total of 218 documents.

This new revelation comes on the heels of the uncovering of the NSA’s large scale snooping campaign on German officials that included the monitoring of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone last year.

“If the reports are correct it, would be a serious case,” said Merkel, speaking at a news conference on a visit to Beijing. “If the allegations are true, it would be for me a clear contradiction as to what I consider to be trusting cooperation between agencies and partners.”

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke of consequences if the reports turn out to be true, saying, “We haven’t finished clearing this up yet. But if suspicions are confirmed that American secret services were involved, it will become a political issue.”

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