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Taiwan and the "ghost" company in Hungary at play: Who sold the radios that exploded to Hezbollah?

2024-09-18 17:46:44Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Taiwan and the "ghost" company in Hungary at play: Who sold the radios
Taiwan and the "ghost" company in Hungary at play: Who sold the radios that exploded to Hezbollah?

Many questions remain unanswered about the wave of simultaneous blasts on thousands of Hezbollah communications devices that occurred in Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon.

While Israel denies being behind the attack that left 12 people dead and injured more than 3,000 others, mystery surrounds the question of who manufactured the radios that exploded, as reports from Reuters and the New York Times said the explosions were caused by explosives planted in these equipment.

According to reports, the AR-924 communication devices were jammed with several dozen explosive fragments placed near their battery along with detonators and were sold by the Gold Apollo company from Taiwan.

The Gold Apollo company itself came out with a statement to clarify that the devices that exploded almost simultaneously were manufactured by a company based in Hungary called BAC Consulting KFT.

"This company has worked with us and sells a lot of our products. They also wanted to produce communication equipment, so they asked for permission to use our company name," Gold Apollo's Taiwanese president Hsu Ching Kuan said, adding that the agreement with Hungarian BAC has been valid for the past three years.

However, the chief executive of the Hungarian company, Cristiana Barsoni-Arcindiacono gave a different version although she confirmed that they are working with Gold Apollo. "We do not produce such radio receivers. We are only the middlemen. I think you misunderstood," Barsoni said, as reported by NBC.

With all these statements and counter-statements, the case resembles a mystery spy movie and the question that arises is: "Is BAC Consulting KFT a ghost company?".

As reported by Reuters, although BAC Consulting's offices are located in a two-story building on the outskirts of Budapest, the company reportedly does not have a physical presence there, raising questions about its operations.

According to evidence collected by Reuters, the company has no physical activity in the Hungarian capital, but only an inscription on an A4 sheet, placed on a glass door.

 

Taiwan and the "ghost" company in Hungary at play: Who sold the radiosTaiwan and the "ghost" company in Hungary at play: Who sold the radios

It remains unknown whether the company has a current activity in the field of consulting or is involved in other types of transactions.

The company's chief executive, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, while her LinkedIn profile says she has worked for international organizations such as UNESCO.

"The company was founded before 2010 with the creation of an office in Budapest and since then it has increased its team of consultants", says Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono in her profile.

BAC Consulting's discovery and the massive explosion of Hezbollah radios raise serious concerns about how organizations in the Middle East purchase military equipment and raise the issue of transparency in international trade.

For its part, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs announced that Grand Apollo continued to export 260,000 radio receivers from 2022 to August 2024, mainly to the European and American markets.

According to the same announcement, there have never been reports of explosions related to these products, while there are no records of direct exports of Grand Apollo to Lebanon.

“Was it a modified set? Did another manufacturer make them and just put the Apollo brand on them? We are still looking into this," a spokesperson for the Taiwanese ministry added to NBC.

The truth we all know in this case is that Hezbollah bought 5,000 radio receivers rigged with explosives 5 months ago, says a retired Lebanese army officer.

"Several grams of hard-to-detect explosives were attached to the device and placed in the batteries in a way that ensured they could not be detected by sensors or any explosive detection tools," said Munir Sehada, a former government coordinator with the UN in the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission.

He said the type of explosives has not yet been confirmed as laboratories are still working on it, but they are "sophisticated explosives, made of modern materials that cannot be detected by sensors".

"Lithium batteries, if they catch fire or explode, don't do that kind of damage. From the video, it looks like the explosions were powerful, while a lithium battery only causes a small flame and a very small explosion," Sehanda added.

Regarding where the equipment was modified, Sehanda said "it is too early to discuss". He said Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah will give a speech today about the explosions, how the equipment was seized and how his organization will respond to the situation.

 

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