Overview
- Workers renovating a property owned by CAW Oost‑Vlaanderen uncovered the stash while digging for a sewer earlier this week and immediately alerted police.
- The recovered material includes roughly 50 gold bars, piles of coins and at least one nugget, with authorities estimating the total value at about €9 million.
- Local police photographed and inventoried the find and transferred the items to a high‑security federal vault as the East Flanders public prosecutor opened an investigation.
- Belgian civil law gives any lawful owner five years to claim hidden valuables and, if no owner emerges and the gold is not tied to crime, the haul can be divided between the finder and the property owner.
- The site is fenced off for safety, police have warned would‑be treasure hunters to stay away, and investigators will now run provenance checks and hear potential legal claims.