Competition was already cutthroat at the corner of Bathurst St. and Glencairn Ave., where a war has been raging between two kitty-corner stores in the increasingly profitable cash-for-gold business for more than a year.

But numerous charges against an employee at Harold the Jewellery Buyer — including an alleged murder-for-hire — reveal hostile relations may have produced deadly intentions.

Maria Konstan, 71, an employee of Harold Gerstel, is facing five charges in connection with an alleged plot to kill Omni Jewelcrafter owner Jack Berkovits, including two counts of threatening death and two counts of counselling to commit an indictable offence.

Berkovits alleges that, two weeks ago, a man met him at a nearby pizza place and told him he had been hired to kill him.

“He said, ‘I really like you. I can’t do this. I can’t kill you,’” Berkovits said.

Berkovits said the man, a former ultimate fighter, told him he worked as an “enforcer” for Harold the Jewellery Buyer, and that Berkovits had been giving Gerstel a run for his money. Berkovits said the man told him he was hired to “blow his head off.”

Berkovits, saying he was both fearful for his life and in disbelief, went to police. After midnight the same night, he said, the police “almost banged down the door” to get a statement and continued to call the following days. Berkovits said the alleged hit man had gone to police and revealed the entire plot.

Outside his store Thursday, Gerstel — who is not facing charges — denied comment on whether the alleged hit man worked for him, though he suggested searching the man’s YouTube fight videos to see what kind of person he is.

Gerstel said the allegations against Konstan are “totally false” and that she is innocent. Attempts to contact Konstan on Thursday were not successful. Police say no one else has been charged.

Gerstel alleged that his rival has been trying to destroy his business since Berkovits began advertising that he was buying gold 16 months ago —something only Gerstel had previously advertised — putting the two in direct cash-for-gold competition.

“He used to send us customers until they tried to copy us,” said Gerstel. “Then they changed their business and tried to take our customers.”

Since then, the intersection turned into a battlefield for customers. Gerstel hired two employees to stand at opposite corners, wearing bright yellow signs advertising Harold the Jewellery Buyer. One worker, Mitchell Taylor, said he tells customers to go to both stores before they decide to sell.

Oneil Reid has worked waving Gerstel’s sign off and on for two years. He was adamant that Konstan is innocent.

He alleged that Berkovits deliberately opened a new location a few doors down from a new space Gerstel leased farther north on Bathurst St.

Berkovits denied knowing anything about Gerstel’s plans to move, and said he bought the property well before he knew Gerstel’s intentions. But he said none of that matters.

“What difference does any of that make? You don’t hire a hit man to get a competitor. You just deal with it,” he said.

Amid his outrage, Berkovits said he feels sad that business relations between the two men came down to this; at one time, he and Gerstel had even attended the same synagogue.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

But Russel Oliver, longtime cash-for-gold salesman and former boss to Gerstel, said he’s not surprised to see the industry get ugly. Since gold hit $1,000 per ounce in 2008, the business has become “cutthroat.”

When asked if it’s possible that the business was competitive enough to inspire a murder plot, Oliver was frank: “I wouldn’t put anything past the people who are in this type of competitive situation.”