Budapest

After Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo claimed it had not manufactured the pagers that exploded and killed 12 people, including two children, the focus has now shifted towards a Hungary-based company called BAC Consulting which allegedly had the license to develop the devices. 

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According to BAC's company records, the firm was incorporated in 2022 and has a single shareholder, with its registered address being a building in Budapest's 14th district.   

A BBC report stated that apart from BAC, 13 more companies and one person are also registered at the same building. The initial investigation did not reveal BAC's connection to other companies or the person. 

The balance sheet of the company revealed that BAC had a net turnover of 256,996,000 Hungarian Forint ($725,000) in 2022, and 210,307,000 Hungarian Forint ($593,000) in 2023.

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The company's website, which is now inaccessible, listed Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono as its chief executive and founder. 

Quizzed by NBC about her company's association with the incident, Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed BAC worked with Gold Apollo but denied manufacturing any of the pagers. 

"I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," she was quoted as saying. 

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Zoltan Kovács, the spokesperson for the Hungarian prime minister's office also said BAC was "a trading intermediary", with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary.

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Watch | Israel's pager blasts: Hezbollah vows to punish Israel after blasts

What did Gold Apollo say? 

After the blasts rocked Lebanon, unverified images of two damaged pagers surfaced on social media which showed the word "Gold" and a serial number starting either “AP” or “AR”. The early reports indicated that Gold Apollo may have been involved in the manufacturing of the pagers. 

However, the company’s founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, immediately set the record straight and said the pagers used in detonations were made by a company in Europe that has the right to use the Taiwanese firm’s brand.

"The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," said Hsu. 

"We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one. This is very embarrassing."

The company in a statement released stated that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC. 

"We only provide brand trademark authorisation and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product," the statement said.

Also read | Lebanon explosions: Components for pagers used in blasts not made in Taiwan, says minister

Taiwan's Economy Minister Kuo-Jyh-Huei also corroborated Gold Apollo's version and said 

"The situation as we understand it is, all the components in the pagers produced by this company (Gold Apollo) will not explode. Roughly during the last two years, this company has exported about 260,000 pagers, there has never been any explosions. So, we can determine that the pagers produced in Taiwan do not explode," said Kuo. 

Kuo said that a judicial investigation into the matter was already underway.

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes the utmost care to accurately and responsibly report conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Iraq, and non-state actors like the Islamic State, among others. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos, and videos.