A man who died recently was found to have been stashing away gold bars worth $7 million under his house, while he only had $200 in his bank account. Walter Samaszko Jr., 69, of Carson city Nevada, was also hoarding some rare gold coins, stocks, and a whole bunch of crap.

He was a hoarder. “There was everything inside that home you could think of,” Carson City clerk-recorder Alan Glover told the Los Angeles Times. Samaszko was a loner, described by neighbors as an “anti-government” recluse. Sadly, with no friends, his body was only discovered a month after he died, and the fortune a little time after that.

The story goes that Samaszko Jr. lived alone since his mother died in 1992. Before her death, his mother spent years using money left by her late husband, the vice president of a successful pie company, to purchase antique gold coins, some minted as early as the 1840’s, from a variety of countries including Mexico, Austria, England and South Africa. Samaszko kept up the practice after she died, writing down each purchase in meticulous fashion.

Together they amassed millions in gold coins and bullion, which authorities found wrapped in tinfoil inside ammunition boxes. On top of the gold bars, Samaszko had thousands of dollars in cash and stocks lying around the house.

In fact, so much treasure was uncovered in the house, that authorities took the house apart and ran a metal detector through the property to make sure nothing was overlooked.

Mr. Glover said

The workers found a crawl space from the garage. That led to everything else. He was apparently buying gold from a local coin dealer. We found it in sealed boxes marked ‘books’.

Who stands to benefit from all of this? Well, investigators tracked down Samaszko’s nearest relative, a first cousin called Arlene Magdanz, using invitations sent to Samaszko’s mother’s funeral, 20 years earlier. She is inline to inherit the hoarded fortune. However, Glover told the Tahoe Daily Tribune the government wants at least $800 000, and could end up taking away as much as 75 per cent.

[Source: LATimes]