The Stench of Mob Money

Friends of ours: Nicholas Calabrese

Admitted mobster Nicholas Calabrese says he was desperate to find hiding places for his gambling and extortion money. So he says he stuffed as much as $250,000 into a metal box and buried it at Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Calabrese testified today at the trial of 5 alleged members of the Chicago mob, and he told of the mess he found when he dug up the money six months later.

Calabrese says the cash was mildewed and stinky. He says they tried to use cologne on it but that just made the odor worse.

Calabrese says the mobsters eventually got rid of the smelly money by lending it to customers of their loan-sharking business at rates of 5% a week.