Getty ImagesThe Lebanese government says 12 people, including two children, have been killed after thousands of pagers used by the armed group Hezbollah exploded.
BBC Verify investigated a company called BAC Consulting, which has been linked to the production of the pagers – although the devices are named after a different manufacturer.
Shortly after Tuesday’s explosions, unverified images of two damaged pagers surfaced on social media. The photos showed the word “Gold” and a serial number starting with “AP” or “AR.” This indicated that a Taiwanese company – Gold Apollo – may have been involved in manufacturing the pagers.
However, the company issued a very clear statement denying any involvement, saying: “This model is produced and sold by BAC.”
BAC Consulting is a Hungary-based company that Gold Apollo said was authorized to use its trademark through a licensing agreement.
BBC Verify has accessed BAC’s company records, which reveal that it was incorporated in 2022 and has a single shareholder. It is registered in a building in Budapest’s 14th district.
Besides BAC, 13 other companies and one person are registered in the same building.
However, our search of a financial information database does not reveal that BAC has any ties to other companies or individuals.
The same database does not contain any commercial information about BAC. For example, there is no record of shipments between it and other companies.
However, BAC’s now-inaccessible website previously stated that the company was expanding its operations in Asia and aimed to “develop international technological cooperation between countries for the sale of telecommunications products.”
According to the records, BAC had net sales of 256,996,000 Hungarian forints ($725,000; £549,000) in 2022 and 210,307,000 Hungarian forints ($593,000; £449,000) in 2023.
A company brochureposted on LinkedIn, lists eight organisations BAC claims to have worked with – including the European Commission and the UK Department for International Development (DfID).
BBC Verify has contacted all the organisations listed for comment. The UK Foreign Office, which has taken over responsibilities from DfID, told us it was investigating. But based on initial conversations, it said it had no involvement with BAC, despite the company’s claims.
BAC’s website lists only one person as its CEO and founder – Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono – and does not appear to mention any other employees.
Getty ImagesBBC Verify has learned that she graduated from the University of Catania with a degree in physics in 2001. According to her LinkedIn profile, she also holds PhDs from two London universities.
Her professional profile also indicates that she was a member of the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute (ECI), an international non-profit organization. However, we were told that Ms. Bársony-Arcidiacono “is not and has never been an official member of the board of directors of the Earth Child Institute.”
The ECI said she was introduced to them in 2017-18 and there was an exchange of emails “to determine if and how she could support the ECI.” However, “no one at the ECI has been in contact with this individual since 2018 and there is no current connection with her.”
We have tried several times to contact Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono, but without success.
NBC reported speaking to Ms. Bársony-Arcidiacono, She confirmed that her company was working with Gold Apollo. However, when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said: “I don’t make the pagers. I’m just the middleman. I think you’ve got it wrong.”
The BBC called BAC several times but received no response.
A spokesman for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that explosive pagers had “never” been present in Hungary.
“The authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a commercial intermediary, with no production or operating sites in Hungary,” government spokesman Zoltán Kovács said. said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
BBC Verify will continue to update this story.
