Two European firms in focus of Hezbollah pager explosions

A Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting, has been linked to the thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and leaving nearly 3,000 wounded.

The name of the Budapest-based firm first cropped up in a statement by a Taiwanese manufacturer, Gold Apollo, whose label appeared on the devices. Gold Apollo said it did not manufacture the devices and that they were made by its Hungarian partner, BAC Consulting.

"The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Gold Apollo founder and president Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters at the company's offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday.

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

Gold Apollo said in a statement that the AR-924 pager model was produced and sold by BAC, which it said was authorized to use its trademark for product sales in specific regions. "The design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC," the statement said.

Hsu said there had been problems with remittances from BAC, the Reuters news agency reported.

"The remittance was very strange," Reuters and others reported him as saying at a press conference. He added that payments had come through the Middle East.

Hsu didn't elaborate further, and didn't provide any proof of a contract with BAC showing that his company has had a licensing agreement for the past three years.

Meanwhile, Telex, a Hungarian media outlet, has reported that it was actually Norta Global, a company based in Bulgaria's capital Sofia, that supplied the pagers to Hezbollah. The Bulgarian company, owned by a Norwegian citizen, was reportedly behind the deal with Gold Apollo, although on paper it was BAC that signed the contract, Telex wrote.

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that BAC was part of an Israeli front and that at least two other shell companies were created as well to obfuscate links to Israeli intelligence officers.

What does BAC Consulting do?

According to BAC Consulting's website, the firm develops "international technology cooperation among countries for the sale of telecommunication products." It adds that the cooperation involves "scaling up a business from Asia to new markets e.g. developing countries."

The company, which claims to have over a decade of consulting experience, lists telecommunication as one of its key areas of expertise, and says it integrates "the best past technological lessons and practices from different geographical areas."

BAC Consulting also lists the Nelkhael gold jewel collection as one of its businesses, saying it assists in the branding and marketing of the jewelry line.

According to the official company register in Hungary, BAC is involved in activities ranging from the manufacture of electronic medical devices and electronic components to the extraction of natural gas and crude oil. 

Meanwhile, Hungary has officially responded to the pager issue. Government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs said on social media platform X that BAC "is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary." He added that the pagers in question have never been in Hungary.

A shell company?

DW visited BAC's official address in Budapest but didn't meet or see any employee from the firm. Nobody responded to the doorbell. An A4 sheet of paper with BAC's name printed on it is the only proof of the company's existence.

Residents of the house told DW that they don't know this company, and that they rarely see any correspondence sent to the address.  

According to data on CompanyWall business, which classifies and analyzes financial information and business information on firms, BAC Consulting posted a profit after tax of 18.3 million Hungarian forint (€46,400/$51,700) on revenue of 215 million Hungarian forint in 2023. The company posted a profit after tax of 5.8 million Hungarian forint in 2022.

On Wednesday, BAC's website first showed a login screen instead of the home page, and then eventually showed an error message, stating that "you don't have permission to access this resource."

The company's CEO is Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, whose CV describes her as a "scientist using my very diverse background to work on interdisciplinary projects for strategic decision-making." She has been with BAC since March 2016 and lists business development, sustainability strategies and capacity development among her areas of expertise.

The official company register mentions 49-year-old Barsony-Arcidiacono as the sole owner of the company.

DW has reached out to BAC and its CEO, Barsony-Arcidiacono, for comment on the company's links to the pagers in Lebanon. Calls to the registered phone numbers were not answered.

DW also visited Barsony-Arcidiacono's apartment at her registered address, but nobody opened the door.

What do we know about the Bulgarian firm?

Citing sources familiar with the case, Telex reported that BAC Consulting CEO Barsony-Arcidiacono was in contact with Norta Global. It said that it was the Bulgarian company, not BAC Consulting, that imported the pagers from Taiwan.

Responding to the report, Bulgarian authorities said no customs operations related to the pagers had occurred in the country. They confirmed that they were investigating any potential involvement of Norta Global in the supply chain.

Norta Global was established on April 14, 2022, around the same time BAC was registered with the Hungarian authorities. The company was registered with an initial paid-in capital of 200 Bulgarian levs (€102, $114). Norta Global claims to offer management consulting services but doesn't mention any manufacturing operation.

The company's registered office address in Sofia is also shared by nearly 200 other firms.

DW visited the site in the center of Sofia. The only doorbell and mailbox that are at the listed address on the first floor are those of the "New Companies Agency," which, according to its website, deals with "company registrations." DW tried to contact the company, but they did not respond to our phone calls. 

According to the neighbors, the only person who visits the office is a lawyer. 

DW has reached out to Norta Global for comments.

DW reporters Zsolt Bogar and Alexander Detev contributed to this report from Budapest and Sofia.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler

Editors' note: The article, originally published on September 18, has been updated to reflect the potential links of the pagers to a Bulgarian company.

Correction, September 18, 2024: An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of BAC CEO Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono. DW apologizes for the error.