Nearly three thousand people were injured in Lebanon when thousands of pagers used for communication exploded simultaneously in people’s pockets in southern Beirut on 17 September. Many of the victims are believed to be Hezbollah members, according to international reports. The devices are linked to global companies, including one in Hungary.
The AR-924 pagers involved in the explosions were reportedly manufactured by BAC Consulting Ltd., a company based in Budapest, Hungary, according to AP reports. This information was based on a statement from Taiwan’s Gold Apollo, released on Wednesday. Gold Apollo clarified that although their brand name was licensed on the pagers, the actual manufacturing was done by another company in Budapest.
Later, Cristiana Rosaria Bársony-Arcidiacono, the owner of BAC Consulting Ltd., confirmed to NBC News that her company had worked with Gold Apollo. When asked about the pagers and the explosions, she explained, “I don’t make the pagers. I’m just the middleman. I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” as reported by Blikk.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs stated on Wednesday that Gold Apollo exported 260,000 pagers between August 2022 and August 2024, mainly to European and U.S. markets. They emphasised that there had been no previous reports of explosions involving these products, nor any reports of the company exporting pagers directly to Lebanon.
According to the latest reports by Telex, the pagers were purchased from Taiwan by a Sofia-based company, which later sold them to Hezbollah. However, the Hungarian company involved, BAC Consulting, was only an intermediary, and the devices never physically entered Hungary.
The Hungarian government confirmed this in an official statement. Zoltán Kovács, State Secretary for International Communications, said „Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary. It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary. During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organisations,”
Telex further reported that BAC Consulting Ltd. did not perform any significant activities and was only registered with a headquarters service provider. The company had no office and acted solely as an intermediary.
The real manufacturers behind the pagers are not Hungarians
The Bulgarian company involved in the transaction has a Norwegian owner. Similar to BAC Consulting, it is also registered with a seat provider and is one of 196 companies registered through this service. The Bulgarian company, founded in April 2022, claims to specialise in project management, though it likely does not manufacture anything.
It remains unclear to what extent Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono was involved as an intermediary, but it is certain that her role was limited to covering up the involvement of the Bulgarian company.
Telex also reported that BAC Consulting is registered in a condominium on Szőnyi Street. While listed as a consultancy firm, its website claims involvement in a variety of projects, from newspaper publishing to oil production. The company has only been operational for two years, with a profit of HUF 13 million (EUR 32,900) last year.
According to The New York Times, BAC Consulting was actually founded by Israelis, along with at least two other front companies, to conceal the real manufacturers of the explosive pagers—Israeli intelligence officers. This report, based on statements from an Israeli intelligence officer, provides unprecedented details on how the explosive devices ended up in the hands of Hezbollah members.
UPDATE: DK calls for convening natl security cttee over Lebanon pager blasts
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has proposed convening parliament’s national security committee over the mass pager attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
DK leader Ferenc Gyurcsány told an online press conference on Thursday that “a Hungarian intermediary company … acting as a front company for the Israeli secret services” was linked to the case.
“Israel and the government of [Benjamin] Netanyahu … is in a close alliance with [the Hungarian] government,” Gyurcsany said. “So one possibility is that our ally established a front company in Hungary without our knowing, using it to attack a terrorist organisation.”
“An obvious consequence of this is that if this becomes public, Hungary, too, can become a target of terrorist attacks,” he said. “It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t know about this.”
Gyurcsány said it was “also a problem” if the government had known that Israel’s secret services were using Hungary as a “front”, adding that he did not believe “Hungary should have authorised this”.
Zoltán Kovács, the state secretary for international communication and relations, said on Facebook on Wednesday that the matter “poses no security risk to Hungary”. The Hungarian authorities, he said, “have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary”. “It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices never entered Hungary,” he added.
Zoltán Sas, the opposition head of the national security committee, convened the regular session of the committee for 26 September on which they will discuss the issue of the pagers, economx.hu wrote.
Read also:
- Hungarian man arrested for smuggling U.S. military devices to Russia – Read here
- Former U.S. Army commander: Szijjártó’s frequent meetings with Lavrov erode trust – Read here
Featured image: depositphotos.com
A brilliant military maneuver by Israel that should strike fear into those who wish to strike fear into us.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but we still haven’t heard exactly what the business transaction was and who the primary parties to the transaction are.