A photo has been taken of the glamorous CEO of a company accused of manufacturing the exploding beepers that killed 12 people and injured thousands in one of the most audacious attacks Israel has ever carried out on Hezbollah.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists “disaster management” as one of her skills, is listed as the CEO of the Hungary-based company BAC Consulting, which reportedly supplied the devices to the Lebanese group.
She denies any involvement with the pagers, telling an American TV station: ‘I don’t make the pagers. I’m just the middleman. I think you’re wrong.’
Barsony-Arcidiacono, who is in his 40s, boasts an impressive list of qualifications, including one from the London School of Economics.
It is believed that she lived in Gospel Oak, North London, during her 13 years of study at British universities.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, who studied in London and lists “disaster management” as one of her skills, is named as the CEO of the Hungary-based company BAC Consulting that reportedly supplied the devices to the Lebanese group.
The headquarters of the company BAC Consulting KFT is pictured on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary
A photo taken in the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 18, 2024, shows the remains of exploded pagers displayed in an undisclosed location. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17
The shocking incident left dozens of Hezbollah members seriously wounded in southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut.
Civil Protection workers carry a man who was injured after his portable pager exploded, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Barsony-Arcidiacono lists her expertise in International Relations and Business Development, with her most significant achievements being her contribution to a Nobel Peace Prize and her strategic work on climate and conflict issues.
Her resume also states that she speaks seven languages, including Russian and Italian.
From 2015 to 2017, she studied political science at the London School of Economics. Before that, she spent four years at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where she wrote her thesis on the risks of climate change in Guinea-Conakry.
Before that, she studied at University College London from 2002 to 2006, where she obtained her PhD in physics.
On Research Gate, a website for scientists, she lists her skills as “quantum mechanics” and “disaster management.”
On her resume on the BAC Consulting website, she describes herself as a scientist and writes: ‘I am a scientist who uses my very diverse background to work on interdisciplinary projects for strategic decision-making (water and climate policy, investments).
‘Thanks to my excellent analytical, language and interpersonal skills, I enjoy working and leading in a multicultural environment where diversity, integrity and… humor are valued.
Before becoming CEO of BAC Consulting, she last worked as a project manager on a hydrological programme in Paris for UNESCO.
Thousands injured when pagers exploded in Syria and Lebanon on Tuesday
A police officer inspects a car in which a pager has exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Hsu Ching-kuang (left), head of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, speaks to media outside the company’s office in New Taipei City on September 18, 2024. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo denied a report on September 18 that it had produced thousands of explosive-filled beepers
Initial reports indicated that the pagers ordered by Hezbollah were supplied by a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo.
But executives said this morning that the company had only authorized its brand on the devices and that they were manufactured and sold by BAC Consulting KFT.
“Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorization and regional agency partnership with BAC,” a statement said.
‘Under the agreement, we grant BAC permission to use our brand for production sales in specific regions, but the design and production of the products are entirely managed by BAC.’
Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Gold Apollo, told reporters this morning that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but he did not provide evidence of the contract.
He also said He negotiated the licensing agreement in Europe with a Taiwanese woman who he believed was a regional representative of BAC.
“She had flown to Europe several times,” he said, claiming the woman called herself Teresa.
“From beginning to end they didn’t mention Lebanon.”
BAC Consulting Kft, a limited liability company, was registered in May 2022 and data shows that its turnover in 2022 was $725,768 and in 2023 it was $593,972.
Reporters have the registered address of BAC Consulting in Budapest, but a person who was present in the building and wished to remain anonymous said the company was not physically present there.
BAC Consulting’s now-defunct website said the company was working with telecommunications companies to “connect technologies in Asia.”
