Belgium student unearths ₹99-crore gold stash during routine sewer work under former brewery. But he can’t keep it

An 18-year-old student working a summer job at a construction site in Belgium got far more than he bargained for when he unearthed a hidden stash of gold estimated to be worth around ₹99 crore (€9) million while digging trenches for a sewage system, according to The Guardian.

He can’t keep it with him because Belgian law does not automatically make the person who finds buried treasure its owner.

“At first I thought it was €1 coins,” Kobe told Belgian broadcaster VTM, recalling how the workers began digging up what they initially believed were ordinary coins. Their discovery took a dramatic turn when they uncovered a gold bar and realised the find was worth far more than they had imagined.

The teenager and his colleagues were carrying out routine excavation work when they came across the trove. What began as an ordinary summer shift quickly turned into an extraordinary archaeological and financial discovery, with the stash estimated at millions of euros.

Kobe’s full identity has not been disclosed. The circumstances surrounding the ownership and origin of the gold were not immediately clear.

The discovery comprised gold coins, nuggets and numbered bullion bars, which had been packed into a bag and concealed inside a sealed section of a cellar wall beneath a large villa. The property was originally constructed in the late 19th century for Theophilus Van Assche, the owner of the brewery that once operated at the site.

Recalling the unexpected find, Kobe mentioned, “It’s just not something you expect when you’re working on a regular Tuesday morning.” He said the stash appeared to have been intentionally concealed, adding: “It was really bricked in there – not in a safe or anything.”

The site began operating as a brewery in 1899 before production ended in 1970. The heritage-listed property, whose wrought-iron gates still carry the initials “VA”, is now undergoing a major renovation by social welfare organisation CAW Oost-Vlaanderen, which plans to turn it into office space and housing.

Geert Hillaert of CAW said the historic Brouwershuis building is undergoing a complete overhaul, with the renovation expected to leave only its walls intact. He said workers were installing drainage pipes when they unexpectedly discovered the gold stash.

“The Brouwershuis was a beautiful building, but it is being completely gutted,” Hillaert told HLN. “Ultimately, only the walls will remain. Labourers were laying drainage pipes when they stumbled across the gold.”

Kobe and his co-workers immediately contacted police and informed CAW after finding the hoard. The gold has since been moved to a secure facility in Brussels, where it will remain while authorities investigate its origins and determine who legally owns it.

Hanne Ollevier from the East Flanders public prosecutor’s office said officials would first establish whether the bullion had been stolen or was connected to any criminal activity. She added that determining ownership could potentially lead to a complicated civil dispute.

The construction company working on the property, CAW Oost-Vlaanderen and possible heirs of the formerly affluent Van Assche family could all potentially stake a claim to the fortune. Under Belgian law, anyone who discovers buried treasure must wait at least five years to allow possible owners to come forward.

Former Dendermonde mayor Piet Buyse told HLN that the Van Assche family had “certainly stayed in the family. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they had decided to put at least some of it in gold, and then to hide it in a safe place.”

Kobe said he and his co-workers immediately realised that a discovery of such enormous value had to be handed over to the authorities. He suggested that while they might have been tempted to keep a small number of coins, the scale of the find made that impossible. The teenager also said they hoped to receive some form of “finder’s reward eventually”.