Germans may have misplaced plans for high-tech spy headquarters

Germany is investigating reports that a set of blueprints its future BND spy headquarters under construction in Berlin may have been missing for up to a year.

Several media were citing a German-language report in Focus magazine which, if confirmed, would likely pose a serious security risk — and be a huge embarrassment for the spy agency.

According to the Telegraph:

The plans for the new building included details on alarms, emergency exits, wall thickness and the locking systems designed to protect the 4,000 personnel who will work there. Focus also said the blueprints could have been missing for a year before anyone noticed their absence.

The BND — or Bundesnachrichtendienst — is currently headquartered near Munich, but the decision was taken following reunification to move it to Berlin, the BBC reports.

Construction of the $2.3 billion agency headquarters — set to be one of the most expensive and hi-tech government structures in Germany — in a former East German district of the capital began in 2006 and is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Focus magazine reportedly quotes an unnamed intelligence official as saying the highly detailed plans had disappeared.

The Telegraph uses the word "stolen" and reports that "suspicion for the crime has fallen on contractors involved in the construction of the new headquarters."

"It's obvious the papers were passed on from there," a BND representative reportedly told Die Welt newspaper.

A government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular news conference that, "It has not yet been possible to verify the authenticity of the reports, but an investigation was launched into the matter on Friday."