Brothers living in cave to inherit billions from lost grandmother

Zsolt and Geza Peladi have no fixed address and eke out an existence by selling junk they find in the street.

But their scavenging days are about to be over. The brothers have been informed they are entitled to their long-lost grandmother’s fortune, along with a sister who lives in America.

Charity workers in Hungary broke the news to them after being contacted by lawyers handling the estate of their maternal grandmother who died recently in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.

“We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but she was a difficult person and severed ties with them, and then later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father until she eventually died,” Geza Peladi, 43, told ATV television.

Under German law, direct descendants are automatically entitled to a share of any estate. As the grandmother’s daughter is dead the money goes to her grandchildren.

“If this all works out it will certainly make up for the life we have had until now — all we really had was each other — no women would look at us living in a cave,” said Geza.

“But with money, maybe we can find a partner and finally have a normal life. We don’t know yet if she even told our grandmother about us. I understand it was only while they were carrying out genealogical research that lawyers found we existed.”

Gyula Balazs Csaszar, a volunteer working for Budapest’s Maltese Charity Service, said: “We were contacted by a lawyer asking us to find the brothers.

“He claimed he could help their lives with a large sum of money.”

The grandmother’s name has been kept secret to prevent fraudsters trying to cash in on the inheritance.

A spokesman for the lawyers handling the case said: “We know who we need to speak to and that is the two brothers who we are pretty sure are the grandchildren. There is no need for anyone else to be informed.”

The brothers are currently seeking copies of their mother’s death certificate and proof of their identity and family connections as the rightful heirs before travelling to Germany to claim the fortune.

Last month, a student from Moldova inherited nearly a billion euros from a long-lost relative. Sergey Sudev was left the fortune by an uncle he had not seen for 10 years.

Despite his new wealthy status, Mr Sudev intends to complete his journalism studies.

Normally the only way people of modest means come into a sudden fortune in Europe is through the lottery. Earlier this month, a group of call centre workers and a married couple jointly won Britain’s largest ever lottery prize of £91 million.