Boss claims innocence

Pager explosions: Taiwan launches investigation

Hsu Ching-Kuang himself seemed completely baffled by the events.

(Bild: AFP)

In connection with the question of the origin of the pagers that exploded in Lebanon, the Taiwanese public prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into possible manufacturers. The focus is on the head of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, who, according to his own statement, was surprised by the events.

Two people, including the head of Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-Kuang, were questioned as witnesses, as Taiwanese investigators announced on Friday. At least twelve people were killed and 2,800 injured in the explosion of pagers belonging to Hezbollah members on Tuesday.

Gold Apollo came under scrutiny after the New York Times reported that Israel had planted explosives in a shipment of the company's pagers. Hsu had denied any connection between his company and the devices, which were manufactured by licensees in Europe. According to new findings, these were allegedly front companies of the Mossad.

House searches in Taipei
According to the public prosecutor's office, Hsu and a woman from another company were questioned several times on Thursday and then released. The investigators would "clarify as quickly as possible" whether Taiwanese companies were involved in the explosions or not. According to the report, four premises in Taipei located in neighborhoods where Gold Apollo and Apollo Systems are based were also investigated.

The pagers struck twice, only then did they explode. Sometimes right in front of the Hezbollah members' faces.

(Bild: AP/Uncredited)

According to Taiwanese media, the Apollo Systems employee interviewed, named as Wu Yu-jen or Teresa Wu, has links to the Hungarian company BAC Consulting Kft. BAC manufactured the pagers that later exploded in Lebanon, Gold Apollo said on Wednesday. Gold Apollo had established a "long-term partnership" with Budapest-based BAC to use its brand, the company had said. The model mentioned in the media reports is "manufactured and sold by BAC".

Hungary denies links
A spokesperson for the Hungarian government responded by stating that BAC does not have any production facilities in Hungary. The head of the company, which presents itself as a consulting firm on its website, also denied to the US broadcaster NBC that it had manufactured the devices and explained that it only worked as an intermediary. The BAC Consulting website was taken down shortly after the link to the pagers was made public.

According to Hungarian media reports, the company, which was founded in 2022 according to the Hungarian company register, is registered in a detached house in Budapest, together with a number of other companies. It therefore has neither offices nor representatives on site.

There were also investigations in Bulgaria in connection with the pager explosions. The secret service said it was investigating the possible involvement of a Sofia-based company called Norta Global. According to media reports, this company, which was also founded in 2022 according to the Bulgarian company register, does not have its own office - like BAC in Budapest - but is registered at a shared address with almost 200 other companies. The Bulgarian domestic intelligence service DANS confirmed on Friday that the pagers used in Lebanon were neither imported to, exported from nor manufactured in Bulgaria.

Third-party company terminated online presence
According to the company register, the owner of Norta Global is said to be a man based in Norway. The company's website globalnorta.com could no longer be accessed on Friday. The company founder, who lives in Oslo, did not want to comment to Reuters on the phone and hung up. His employer, the Norwegian media company DN Media, emphasized to the news agency that it had learned of the reports and had informed the police. The man is said to have traveled to the USA.

The media also reported a lead to Austria. A representative of the Hungarian company BAC Consulting Kft, which designed and manufactured the pagers, is based in Austria, said Gold Apollo board member Hsu according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. However, Hsu had never met this Austrian representative named "Tom" in person, but had only conferred with him via video. The man had set up a production of pagers bearing the Gold Apollo logo.

Confusion about the connection to Austria
However, he had not delivered to "Tom" for "almost three years", according to Hsu. It initially remained unclear how "Tom" was able to pose as a representative of a company that was apparently founded much later in Hungary. According to the New York Times, the Mossad had been planning the operation for years. However, Israel itself has not yet claimed responsibility for the wave of attacks.