Hezbollah pager explosions: Gold Apollo says it received ‘strange’ payments from Hungarian-based BAC via Middle Eastern bank

Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese electronics company, reported receiving unusual payments from Hungarian-based BAC, a company potentially linked to Hezbollah's recent pager-triggered explosions, according to NPR's Emily Feng.

About a year after BAC signed a contract with Gold Apollo, Hsu, the company's owner, said BAC made an unusual request. They wanted to design their own products but use Gold Apollo's trademark.

“They said they wanted to cultivate a cohort of engineers,” Hsu said, recalling the conversation with BAC. “I told them, the stuff you make is neither easy to use nor aesthetically pleasing. Why not just use my products?”

Hsu also noted that BAC’s payment transfers were “strange.” Although BAC is located in Hungary, payments were made from a Middle Eastern bank account, which was blocked at least once by Gold Apollo’s bank in Taiwan.

“It was very inconvenient. You have to deal with these risks when doing global trade,” Hsu said. His accountant spent a week unfreezing the payment.