The businesswoman linked to the thousands of deadly pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week is in hiding, guarded by the Hungarian secret services, her mother says.
British-educated Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, 49, has not appeared publicly since the deadly simultaneous attack, suspected to be the work of Mossad, that targeted Hezbollah on Tuesday.
Bársony-Arcidiacono’s mother, Beatrix, who lives in Catania, Sicily, told MailOnline that her daughter had received unspecified “threats” and was now “in a safe place, protected by Hungarian government agents”.
The claim has been denied by Hungarian officials in Budapest, where Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono is listed as managing director of BAC Consulting, which bears her initials.
A Taiwanese company that owns the trademark for the pagers claimed BAC was responsible for manufacturing the devices, an accusation it denied before going into hiding.
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono (pictured), the 49-year-old businesswoman linked to thousands of deadly pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria this week, is in hiding, her mother has said.
Bársony-Arcidiacono’s mother, Beatrix (pictured), who lives in Catania, Sicily, told MailOnline that her daughter had received unspecified “threats” and was now “in a safe place protected by Hungarian government agents”.
The home of Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono’s mother, Beatrix, in Catania, Sicily
A hand shows the destroyed pager that exploded on September 17
Thousands of people were injured when communication devices exploded on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lebanon and Syria
Her mother, Beatrix, 70, said she had been in touch with her daughter but that the Hungarian secret services had advised them both “not to talk to the media. No comment, no comment,” she repeated in response to further questions.
He previously insisted that his daughter was not knowingly involved in the plot.
“She had no involvement, she was just a middleman. The items did not go through Budapest… They were not produced in Hungary,” he told the Associated Press.
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.
Bársony-Arcidiacono’s company came under scrutiny after Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it had authorized BAC Consulting to use its name on the pagers 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 Consultants merely acted as an intermediary.
Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono senior lives in the town of Santa Venerina, at the foot of Mount Etna, where streets and pavements are covered in black volcanic ash due to a major eruption last month.
Her terraced house, with a spacious balcony overlooking the sparkling waters of the Gulf of Catania on one side and Europe’s largest active volcano on the other, was where Christiana grew up, attending the Archimedes Institute in Acireale and subsequently studying physics at the University of Catania.
Beatrix (pictured), 70, said she had been in contact with her daughter but that the Hungarian secret services had advised both women “not to speak to the media. No comment, no comment,” she repeated in response to further questions.
The headquarters of BAC Consulting KFT is shown on September 18, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary.
Explosion of radio device in Baalbek city is seen as wireless communication device explosions across Lebanon
The shocking incident left dozens of Hezbollah members seriously injured across southern Lebanon and its capital, Beirut.
A police officer inspects a car in which a portable pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.
Her Italian father, Salvatore, a journalist, died many years ago, but by then Cristiana had already left Italy.
According to official Italian records, he went to study in the United Kingdom around 2006.
On social media, Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono now describes herself as a strategic advisor and business developer with a PhD who has worked for major international organisations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency and humanitarian agency CARE, as well as venture capital firms.
According to her LinkedIn page, she received her PhD from University College London, where she was enrolled in the early to mid-2000s. There she worked with Ákos Kövér, a now-retired Hungarian physicist and professor, who confirmed her enrollment at the prestigious university.
Kövér told the AP: “At that time we also published some joint papers. I am not aware of his other activities, as far as I know he has not done any scientific work since then.”
Neighbours said they were shocked to read claims about Sicilian-born Cristiana’s involvement in the supply chain that led to the multiple deadly attacks in Beirut.
“She couldn’t have known,” repeated a man who knew her family and asked not to be identified. “She’s a very intelligent woman, from a respectable family, and she would never have done something like that. If it’s true, then she must have been tricked.”
Another family friend told La Sicilia newspaper: “I didn’t believe Cristiana owned a company capable of doing such a high-profile business.”
The widow, Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono, said her daughter was born in Sicily and studied at the University of Catania before completing a PhD in London. She worked in Paris and Vienna before moving to Budapest in October 2016 to care for her elderly grandmother.
A photo taken on September 18, 2024 in the southern suburbs of Beirut shows the remains of pagers that exploded at an undisclosed location. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17.
The blasts have greatly increased already high tensions between Israel, Hezbollah and the terror group’s allies.
Civil Defense emergency response teams carry a man who was injured after his portable pager exploded, in the southern Lebanese port city of Sidon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.
In May 2022, Cristiana incorporated the company at the heart of the pager mystery.
BAC Consulting shares the ground floor of a modest building in Budapest with many other companies, but it 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 left the building earlier this week and declined to be identified.
The company’s website states that it specializes in “environment, development and international affairs.” The corporate registration lists 118 official functions, including sugar and oil production, jewelry retailing and natural gas extraction.
According to the company’s filing, it earned $725,000 in revenue in 2022 and $593,000 in 2023. Last year, the company spent nearly $324,000, or about 55% of its revenue, on “equipment.”
The company’s website has been down since Wednesday.
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