A digger showed up at the house in Bogen, near Passau, shortly after the death of the 53-year-old businessman who owned it, broadcaster Bayerische Rundfunk reported on Tuesday.

The excavator soon unearthed plastic boxes filled with cash – initially reported to be worth up to 1.5 million euros – and 200,000 euros worth of gold bars.

Normally, anything found on the property would go to the dead man’s heirs.

But the digger hadn’t been ordered in by his family or executors, but by a 69-year-old man who claims that he had agreed with the deceased owner to hide his cash under the lawn.

After the death, he became worried over the fate of his hoard and called in the excavator.

But now he must find a way to prove that the gold really does belong to him – or see it handed over to the beneficiaries of his friend’s will.

Bogen town mayor Franz Schedlbauer told Bayerische Rundfunk that the 69-year-old man had said he had buried the assets in the garden with the approval of the house owner.

The town leader then revealed that the stash is currently being held by a security firm in Regensburg, a city 50km northwest of where the bullion was found.

He also announced that authorities had placed the house in question under the watch of security guards.

Police ordered an autopsy on the dead man and found that there was no foul play in his death.

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