A new controversy has arisen over the origin of pagers used in the explosions in Lebanon, raising questions about whether they were manufactured in Taiwan or Hungary.
A Taiwanese company claimed that the pagers were made by a Hungarian company, while Hungary denied this claim. The Hungarian company stated that the devices involved in the explosions were never made in Hungary, and the company mentioned for making pagers was actually a trading firm, not a manufacturer.
According to a BBC investigation, images circulating on social media showed a destroyed pager with the words “Gold” and “AP” or “AR,” suggesting it was made by the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo. However, Gold Apollo denied manufacturing the pagers used in the explosions, stating that the rights to this model were sold to a Hungarian company named BAC.
Gold Apollo clarified that BAC had the rights under a licensing agreement to manufacture and brand this pager model. The BBC attempted to contact BAC for more information, but received no response, and BAC’s website became inaccessible.
BAC was registered in 2022 in Budapest, Hungary, and was linked to Kristiana Barsonyi, who owned 13 other companies at the same address. BAC’s financial records showed a turnover of $725,000 in 2022 and $593,000 in 2023, with no clear evidence of other company connections or shipments.
Further inquiries into BAC’s claimed partnerships with prominent organizations like the European Commission revealed no actual business ties. Additionally, BAC’s CEO, Kristiana Barsonyi, denied manufacturing pagers, stating that the company only acts as an intermediate trader.
The Hungarian Prime Minister’s spokesperson confirmed that the pagers were never in Hungary and that the company in question is merely a trading entity without manufacturing facilities in the country.
The explosions in Lebanon, involving pagers, resulted in the death of 11 people, including the son of a Lebanese minister, and left over 4,000 injured.
