Woman whose firm linked to exploding pagers ‘under Hungarian protection’

The woman whose company was linked to thousands of pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week is under the protection of the Hungarian secret services, her mother told The Associated Press.

Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous attack that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday, which has been widely blamed on Israel.

She is listed as the chief executive of Budapest-based BAC Consulting, which the Taiwanese trademark holder of the pagers said was responsible for the manufacture of the devices.

Her mother, Beatrix Barsony-Arcidiacono, told the AP that her daughter had received unspecified threats and “is currently in a safe place protected by the Hungarian secret services”.

The “Hungarian secret services advised her not to talk to media” she said by phone from Sicily.

Hungary’s national security authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and the AP could not independently verify the claim.

Two days of attacks this week, first targeting pagers and then walkie-talkies, have killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 3,000, including civilians.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have blamed Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.

Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono’s company came under scrutiny after Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it had authorised BAC Consulting to use its name on the pagers that were used in the first attack, but that the Hungarian company was responsible for manufacturing and design.

On Wednesday, a Hungarian government spokesman said the pagers delivered to Hezbollah were never in Hungary, and that BAC Consulting merely acted as an intermediary.

Beatrix Barsony-Arcidiacono, who also uses the name Beatrice, echoed that.

“She is not involved in any way, she was just a broker. The items did not pass through Budapest… They were not produced in Hungary,” she said.

BAC Consulting shares the ground floor of a modest building in Budapest with numerous other enterprises, but has no physical offices and uses the property in Hungary’s capital — like the other companies based there — only as an official address, according to a woman who emerged from the building earlier this week and refused to be named.

The company’s website said it specialised in “environment, development, and international affairs”.

The corporate registry listed 118 official functions including sugar and oil production, retail jewellery sales and natural gas extraction.

The company brought in 725,000 dollars (£546,323) in revenue in 2022 and 593,000 dollars (£446,885) in 2023, according to the company registry.

Last year, the company spent nearly 324,000 dollars (£244,116), or around 55% of its revenue, on “equipment”.

The company’s website has been unavailable since Wednesday.

Beatrix Barsony-Arcidiacono said her daughter was born in Sicily and studied at the University of Catania there before pursuing a PhD in London.

She worked in Paris and Vienna before moving to Budapest in October 2016 to care for her elderly grandmother.

In May 2022, she incorporated the company at the heart of the mystery of the pagers.

On social media, a younger Ms Barsony-Arcidiacono describes herself as a strategic adviser and business developer who has worked for major international organisations as well as for venture capital firms.

Her company’s website said she has a doctorate in physics.

The 49-year-old received the degree from University College London, where she was enrolled in the early to mid-2000s, according to her LinkedIn page.

There, she worked with Akos Kover, a Hungarian physicist and now-retired professor, who confirmed her enrolment.

Mr Kover said in an email to the AP: “At the time, we also published some joint articles. I am not aware of her other activities.”

She interned at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2008 and 2009, as confirmed by the agency, and once co-authored a paper for a Unesco conference discussing the management of underground water.

On her social media accounts, she posted pictures from France, the UK and other places, mostly selfies or photos of places she was said she was visiting.

Few friends interacted with her messages, some inviting her to come visit or commenting on her appearance.

She speaks English, French, Italian and Hungarian, according to her social media, where she has occasionally made comments criticising Ukraine or in support of children in Gaza.