The Gold Apollo brand.
| Picture Credit score: Reuters

The president and founding father of a Taiwanese pager firm linked to the detonation of thousands of pagers targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon was questioned by prosecutors late into the night time on Thursday (September 19, 2024), then launched.

Taiwan-based Gold Apollo’s president and founder Hsu Ching-kuang has mentioned it didn’t manufacture the units used within the assault, and that they had been made by a Budapest-based firm BAC which has a licence to make use of its model.

Additionally Learn | From Taiwan to Lebanon via Hungary: The trail of exploding pagers 

Photographs of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters confirmed a format and stickers on the again that had been according to pagers made by Gold Apollo.

Hsu declined to reply reporters’ questions as he left one of many Taipei places of work of Taiwan prosecutors late Thursday. Calls to the prosecutor’s workplace earlier than workplace hours on Friday weren’t answered. Taipei prosecutors haven’t issued any statements to this point about their investigations into Gold Apollo.

One other particular person additionally seen leaving the prosecutor’s workplace was Teresa Wu, the only real worker of an organization known as Apollo Techniques Ltd, who didn’t communicate to reporters as she left the prosecutors late on Thursday.

Hsu mentioned this week an individual known as Teresa had been one in every of his contacts for the take care of Hungary-based agency BAC.

Firm information present Apollo Techniques was arrange by Wu in April this yr. It was not instantly clear what the connection is between her firm and BAC.

Taiwan’s authorities has mentioned it’s investigating what occurred and police have made a number of visits to Hsu’s firm, in a small, unassuming workplace in Taipei’s subsequent door metropolis of New Taipei.

At the very least 9 individuals had been killed and almost 3,000 wounded when pagers utilized by Hezbollah members detonated concurrently throughout Lebanon on Tuesday. In accordance with a senior Lebanese safety supply and one other supply, explosives contained in the units had been planted by Israel’s Mossad spy company.

Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate in opposition to Israel, which has not claimed duty for the detonations. The 2 sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare for the reason that Gaza battle erupted final October.