Yamashita's Gold is the name given to vast treasures looted across Southeast Asia by Imperial Japanese forces and supposedly hidden in tunnel complexes in the Philippines during World War II. The legend is centered on the 1971 discovery of a solid gold Buddha by locksmith Rogelio Roxas, which was allegedly stolen by Ferdinand Marcos and later became the subject of a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. Some researchers argue the hoard was secretly recovered by the United States to finance covert "black gold" slush funds during the Cold War, though many historians dismiss the treasure's existence entirely