Taiwanese company Jin Apollo stated on Tuesday (September 17) that the pagers used by Hezbollah members in the pager bomb explosions were manufactured by a company located in Hungary. However, media investigations suggest that this company may be just a shell company.
The pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon reported that the explosions resulted in at least 12 deaths, including two children, and around 2,800 people injured. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have accused Israel.
According to the statement released by Taiwan’s Jin Apollo, the AR-924 pagers used by Hezbollah members were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, headquartered in Budapest, Hungary.
However, investigations by Reuters and the Associated Press found that BAC appears to be a shell company.
Company records show that BAC Consulting KFT is a limited liability company registered in May 2022, with revenues of around $1.3 million in 2022 and 2023.
The registered address of the company is in a suburban area of Budapest, a residential building with multiple company names, including BAC Consulting, posted on pieces of paper on the windows.
A woman coming out of the building refused to reveal her name, stating that the location provides a headquarters address for multiple companies.
BAC is registered under the name of a woman named Cristiana Rosaria Bársony-Arcidiacono, who describes herself as a strategic consultant and business developer on her LinkedIn page.
She mentioned on her page that she served as a board member at the Earth Child Institute, an organization focusing on sustainability. However, the organization’s website does not list her as a board member.
The Associated Press attempted to contact her via LinkedIn but was unable to find any connection between her and BAC or the explosive pagers.
BAC’s registered activities range from computer game publishing to IT consulting and even oil extraction.
Information on the Jin Apollo website indicates that the AR-924 pagers were promoted as “sturdy and durable” with rechargeable lithium batteries. This information has been deleted following the attacks.
The website claimed that the battery life of these pagers could reach 85 days, which is particularly important in Lebanon where power outages are common. Pagers use a different wireless network from cell phones, making them more resilient in emergency situations.
For Hezbollah, the pagers provide a means to circumvent Israel’s intensive electronic surveillance of Lebanon’s cell phone network.
A Hezbollah official stated that this explosion was the “biggest security breach” in the organization’s history.
Lebanon’s security services suspect that Israel may have planted explosives in the pagers imported by Hezbollah several months ago.
Hezbollah is Iran’s most powerful proxy in the Middle East. In a statement, this terrorist organization declared that it would continue to support Hamas in Gaza and Israel should wait for a response to this “massacre”.
The Israeli military refused to comment on the explosion. However, Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks, indicating a possible escalation in actions against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that from early 2022 to August 2024, Jin Apollo had exported 260,000 sets of pagers, with over 40,000 sets exported between January and August this year. The ministry also mentioned that there are no records of Jin Apollo pagers being directly exported to Lebanon.