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As the focus shifts to companies linked to the exploding pagers being used by Hezbollah members, the name of a Kerala-born businessman, Rinson Jose, and his Bulgaria-based company Norta Global cropped up. They have been given a clean chit by Bulgarian authorities. However, the entire saga points to a complex web of companies.
Lebanon pager blasts killed at least twenty people and injured over 2,500 others. (File photo)
As thousands of pagers exploded in Lebanon, killing nearly 20 and injuring thousands of Hezbollah members, it created an intel map for Israel. However, it also triggered a wild goose chase as the world tried to understand how Israeli spy agencies manage to rig the pagers with explosives. Surprisingly, in the complex maze of companies and shell firms, the name of a Kerala-born person, who is now a Norwegian citizen, has also emerged.
Telex, a Hungarian media outlet, reported that a Bulgarian company, Norta Global Ltd, was behind the pager's deal. Norta Global was founded by Rinson Jose, a Norwegian citizen, reported The Cradle.
A number of Kerala-based media outlets reported on Friday that Rinson Jose was born in Wayanad and moved to Norway after completing his MBA. Some of the local TV channels also spoke to his relatives.
Rinson's father, Jose Moothedam, is a tailor and had worked in a tailoring shop at Mananthavady, reported Manorama Online. He is known as 'Tailor Jose' in the locality, it said.
An investigation by Bulgarian security agency SANS said no such shipment passed through the country, thus clearing Rinson Jose and his Norta Global.
It is interesting to know how a person born in Kerala somehow featured on the list of people who might be anyhow linked to the pagers.
HOW MAZE OF COMPANIES PUT LENS ON RINSON JOSE
After thousands of pagers being carried by Hezbollah members exploded, the focus shifted to locating the manufacturer.
This is a complex web of companies straddling continents. One of the reasons for the complexity could be that the Israelis created shell companies to not just hoodwink Hezbollah, but to make any investigator run in circles.
The pagers that exploded with Hezbollah members carried the brand name of Taiwanese company Gold Apollo.
However, Hsu Ching-Kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo said that the "product is not ours. It only had our brand on it".
The Gold Apollo president linked the exploding pagers to a Hungary-based company, BAC Consulting. Hsu said that those pagers were made by the Budapest-based company, which had a three-year licensing agreement with his firm.
Sources, however, told Hungarian media outlet Telex that BAC Consulting was "simply an intermediary in the transaction".
Telex reported that BAC did not carry out any activity, it did not even have an office, and it was only registered at the address.
Most likely BAC Consulting is a shell firm set up by Israel.
"The managing director of BAC Consulting, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, dealt with a Bulgarian company, Norta Global Ltd, based in Sofia," reported Telex.
This Bulgaria-based Norta Global is reportedly founded by Rinson Jose, the person born in Wayanad, Kerala.
HOW DID RINSON JOSE COME UNDER SCANNER
"Although on paper it was BAC Consulting that signed the contract with Gold Apollo, Norta Global was actually the one behind the [pagers] deal," Telex reported quoting sources.
It was the Middle East-focused website The Cradle that linked Norta Global to Rinson Jose.
Norta Global was founded in 2022 by Norwegian citizen Rinson Jose, reported The Cradle. It was located at a residential address in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, and registered with a "headquarters service provider", which hosts 196 other companies, it said.
An investigation by Bulgaria's Security Agency (SANS) gave a clean chit to Rinson Jose and his Norta Global.
SANS had on Thursday launched an investigation into the role of any Bulgarian company in connection with the exploding pagers after the Telex report.
"Following verifications, it has been indisputably established that no communication equipment corresponding to those that exploded on September 17 was imported, exported or manufactured in Bulgaria," SANS said, according to a report in Barron's.
The SANS said there was no record that the pagers entered the European Union legally via Bulgaria, adding that the Bulgarian customs had not registered the products.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT RINSON JOSE
Before Bulgaria's Security Agency could come out with its clean chit to Rinson Jose, interest in him had peaked in India, especially in his native Kerala.
"He never told me about a company he owns in Bulgaria or any of his business relationships there. We are very much worried as it is linked with the attack on terrorist outfits," Aju John, a cousin of Rinson, told Manorama Online.
Local media also reported that Rinson had a twin named Jinson, who was in the UK, and a sister in Ireland.
Rinson, it was revealed, had come to India last in November, and left in January.
"Rinson graduated from Mary Matha College, Mananthavady, completed his MBA, and went to Norway as a caretaker and later shifted to some business firms," his uncle, Thankachan, told Manorama Online. "We don't know about his job or his business," he added.
There is no clarity yet on who actually manufactured the pagers that were being used by Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. In the complex web of companies, a person born in Kerala came under the scanner. Luckily, he and his company has been cleared of any association with the deadly blasts.
Published By:
Priyanjali Narayan
Published On:
Sep 20, 2024
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