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CNN Live At Daybreak
Report: Qusay Hussein Took Nearly $1 Billion From Baghdad Bank
Aired May 06, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine this: Three giant tractor- trailers back up to a bank and are loaded up with $1 billion. "The New York Times" says it happened in Iraq on order from Saddam Hussein. Who was supposedly overseeing all of this? Saddam's son, Qusay.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad with more on the money trail.
And, Karl, supposedly all of this happened just before the bombing began.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we hear, Carol.
We've talked this morning to George Mullinax (ph). He's one of the U.S. Treasury Department officials who is here in Iraq to oversee the rebuilding of the Iraqi economy.
Now, he has told us this morning that, yes, he has word and he has documents to show that about $900 million in dollars went missing from the Central Bank shortly before the American bombings began, and possibly about $100 million in euros were missing. He said that a group of Iraqi people were responsible for the max withdrawal, if you want to call it like that, but he stopped short of accusing Qusay of doing it. He says that it's simply that investigations into who precisely was responsible for the withdrawal is ongoing.
But, as you say, "The New York Times" this morning has come out with a story. They've apparently talked to an Iraqi official, who has talked to another Central Bank official, and says that, yes, Qusay was behind this.
We've also talked to sources this morning, who live very close to the Central Bank, and they've said to us that they saw something going on, on the morning in question, on approximately March the 18th. And they say that trucks did back up, about three or four trucks backed up to the Central Bank, and money was loaded on.
The source that we spoke to also said that gold was loaded on. It's not yet clear, and we're still talking to this source, how he saw the gold, whether he saw actual dollars going in or whether it was just bundles and bags coming out.
But certainly, $1 billion or that sort of sum does seem to be missing from the Central Bank, although one must remember, in the aftermath of the bombings as well, huge quantities of money were also found, $650 million was found at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. There is no accounting process just yet to know what's what, what's been taken, what's come back. So, still investigations are going on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Karl Penhaul live from Baghdad this morning bringing us up-to-date. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
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Aired May 6, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Imagine this: Three giant tractor- trailers back up to a bank and are loaded up with $1 billion. "The New York Times" says it happened in Iraq on order from Saddam Hussein. Who was supposedly overseeing all of this? Saddam's son, Qusay.
Karl Penhaul live in Baghdad with more on the money trail.
And, Karl, supposedly all of this happened just before the bombing began.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we hear, Carol.
We've talked this morning to George Mullinax (ph). He's one of the U.S. Treasury Department officials who is here in Iraq to oversee the rebuilding of the Iraqi economy.
Now, he has told us this morning that, yes, he has word and he has documents to show that about $900 million in dollars went missing from the Central Bank shortly before the American bombings began, and possibly about $100 million in euros were missing. He said that a group of Iraqi people were responsible for the max withdrawal, if you want to call it like that, but he stopped short of accusing Qusay of doing it. He says that it's simply that investigations into who precisely was responsible for the withdrawal is ongoing.
But, as you say, "The New York Times" this morning has come out with a story. They've apparently talked to an Iraqi official, who has talked to another Central Bank official, and says that, yes, Qusay was behind this.
We've also talked to sources this morning, who live very close to the Central Bank, and they've said to us that they saw something going on, on the morning in question, on approximately March the 18th. And they say that trucks did back up, about three or four trucks backed up to the Central Bank, and money was loaded on.
The source that we spoke to also said that gold was loaded on. It's not yet clear, and we're still talking to this source, how he saw the gold, whether he saw actual dollars going in or whether it was just bundles and bags coming out.
But certainly, $1 billion or that sort of sum does seem to be missing from the Central Bank, although one must remember, in the aftermath of the bombings as well, huge quantities of money were also found, $650 million was found at one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. There is no accounting process just yet to know what's what, what's been taken, what's come back. So, still investigations are going on -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Karl Penhaul live from Baghdad this morning bringing us up-to-date. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
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