Overview
- Earlier this week construction workers drilling in the basement of a building in Sint-Gillis-Dendermonde found a concealed container holding gold bars and coins valued at about €9 million (roughly US$10.4 million).
- Local police catalogued the items, declared the site fully searched, moved the treasure to a high‑security federal vault, and opened a judicial investigation led by the East Flanders public prosecutor to determine provenance and lawful ownership.
- The property is owned by CAW Oost‑Vlaanderen, a social‑assistance organisation that says it would use any legally awarded funds for services, while the finders have also been identified as potential claimants under Belgian law.
- Belgian civil law gives a lawful owner five years to claim a discovered treasure and, if no claimant appears and no criminal link is found, the law allows the proceeds to be split between the finders and the property owner.
- A local historian has suggested a link to the Van Assche family but that hypothesis remains unconfirmed and authorities say documentary or forensic evidence will be needed before ownership is established.