A 62-year-old German man has been arrested in Hungary on suspicion of stealing 22 gold bars worth more than HUF 13.6 million (approximately EUR 37,500) from a woman’s garden after she showed him exactly where they were buried.

Gardener turned gold digger

According to Hungarian police, the woman had previously purchased 64 investment gold bars for more than EUR 100,000. In June 2025, she buried 22 of them in a box in the garden of her home in Somogy County, southern Hungary.

Later that year, she hired an acquaintance to build a garden pond on her property. To prevent the buried gold from being disturbed during the work, she showed the contractor the precise location of the box and explicitly warned him to avoid the area.

Gold sold to a dealer in Kaposvár

The woman recently learned that the man who had been carrying out work at her property had sold a substantial quantity of investment gold to a dealer in Kaposvár, police said. Suspecting that something might have happened to her own gold, she returned to the garden and dug up the box. She discovered that its contents had disappeared, with the resulting loss estimated at more than HUF 13.6 million.

The discovery prompted a police investigation into the suspected theft. Investigators focused on the contractor after learning that he had sold investment gold in the nearby city. The case highlights how the woman’s attempt to protect her valuables by warning the worker about their hiding place may have inadvertently provided the suspect with the information needed to find them.

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Suspect arrested at home

Police arrested the suspected perpetrator at his home during a night-time operation on 15 October. Officers searched the property and seized approximately HUF 1.5 million in cash. The 62-year-old German national was taken to the Fonyód Police Station for questioning. He was questioned on suspicion of theft involving property of significant value, according to the Hungarian police.

Authorities have not disclosed whether the seized cash is believed to be connected to the sale of the gold bars or whether any of the missing bars have been recovered. The investigation is ongoing. The man is suspected of committing the offence and has not been convicted.

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