Suit and countersuit

It never ends.

The cash for gold saga that began in July 2010 with a murder-for-hire plot has begun yet another chapter with yet another lawsuit.

On Oct. 11, Omni2 Jewelcrafters and Omni Jewels & Java along with Omni Cash for Gold, all run by Jack Berkovits, filed a lawsuit against Harold the Jewellery Buyer and it’s owner Harold Gerstel. Berkovits is suing Gerstel for $3 million, claiming damages to his businesses as a result of interference with his potential customers.

Berkovits alleges the problem started with Gerstel employees wearing sandwich board signs and standing in front of his Omni Jewelcrafters location on the northeast corner of Bathurst Street and Glencairn Avenue. Once Berkovits opened his Easy Cash for Gold business just up Bathurst at Fairholme Avenue, he claims the harassment continued there.

He then alleges the employees of Gerstel became so aggressive, he appealed to the Rabbinical court, which put an end to Gerstel employing one man in particular, and also keeping all of Gerstel’s employees away from his cash for gold store by 80 feet to the south and 120 feet to the north.

The lawsuit claims Gerstel’s employees have not abided by the latter, and that “Harold’s sandwich boarders continue to watch and beset Easy Cash for Gold on a daily basis, even in the face of a letter from one of the panel of Rabbis warning Mr. Gerstel of excommunication should his contempt of the Rabbinical court order continue.”

In another twist, Berkovits, who had previously claimed to be targeted for death by a former employee of Gerstel in a murder-for-hire plot, now alleges another plot to harm him was hatched by Gerstel.

In July of 2010, Berkovits went to police saying Gerstel employee Saeed Hosseini, a one-time Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter, had told him he was supposed to kill him but couldn’t do it.

Now in the latest lawsuit, Berkovits alleges Gerstel asked a man named Clansie Hayoun, “whether he could physically harm Mr. Berkovits and break his legs.” The lawsuit goes on to claim Gerstel did not finalize payment with Hayoun, and nothing ever came of it.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

As well, on Oct. 7, Berkovits filed his statement of defence, crossclaim and counterclaim against Maria Konstan. She is suing Berkovits, along with members of the Toronto Police and a former employee of Harold the Jewellery Buyer claiming total damages of $3.5 million stemming from the murder-for-hire plot that placed Konstan at the centre.

All charges against her were dropped in June.