Lebanon Pager Blasts: Hungary's Mysterious BAC Consulting KFT Under Scrutiny (image-X/JasonMBrodsky)
On Tuesday, hundreds of pagers, imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah, detonated across the country, where at least 12 people were killed and over 4,000 injured. Although Israeli officials have not commented on the incident, the country’s spy agency, Mossad, is reportedly responsible behind the blasts.
A second wave of attacks was reported on Wednesday when walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in several parts of the country, killing at least 14 and wounding hundreds.
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Following the pager blasts, a Hungarian company called BAC Consulting KFT has come under scrutiny. The biggest security breach in Hezbollah’s history, the operation saw pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo detonating.
However, company founder Hsu Ching-Kuang stated the pagers used in the explosion, called AR-924, were made by a Europe-based company called BAC, which was authorised to use Gold Apollo’s trademark in certain regions.
The Budapest-based company, founded in May 2022, is involved in “environmental, political, and development projects of broad scope and complexity,” according to the firm’s LinkedIn page.
Zoltan Kovacs, a Hungarian spokesperson, stated that the company is a “trading intermediary” and has no manufacturing or operational site in the country. “It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary,” he said in an X post.
‼️ 🇭🇺 The Hungarian government’s position on the “pager issue”: 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…
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) September 18, 2024
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who lists herself as the chief executive of BAC on LinkedIn, describes herself as a “strategic advisor in innovation and internal affairs.” She also claims to have worked with international organisations, including UNESCO and the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
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A quick visit to the official website of BAC leads to a “Not Found” result.
According to a New York Times report, BAC Consulting, is a shell company and operating as a front organisation of Israeli intelligence.
Gold Apollo’s Hsu also recounted an “odd” incident with BAC Consulting when a local Taiwanese bank delayed a bank transfer from the company because it had suspicions about BAC. Hsu added that the transfer might have come from a bank in the Middle East. He did not say which country.
