Overview
- Renovation workers uncovered a chest set into a cellar wall of a former CAW building in Dendermonde and reported the find to their employer and then police.
- The chest contained numbered gold bars and old gold coins that reporters and local officials value at about nine million euros.
- Local police removed and secured the treasure and transferred it to Brussels for forensic checks and safekeeping while the public site was cleared.
- Prosecutors are investigating the origin and legal ownership of the metal, and a local historian has suggested a possible but unconfirmed link to the Van Assche brewing family.
- CAW Oost-Vlaanderen has said it would use any legally awarded funds for services for people facing homelessness, and authorities warn that decisions on ownership may involve civil and criminal reviews.