A shipment of gold jewellery before being melted down are seen at Express Gold in Toronto Dec 10, 2010.Moe Doiron/The Globe and Mail
Police say a couple wanted in a Toronto kidnapping scammed several people out of money and jewellery in recent months and may have committed offences from Montreal to Vancouver.
Det. Sgt. Savas Kyriacou says a man and woman have been linked to at least nine incidents in Toronto between May and October of last year, and another earlier this month.
He says the couple typically approaches its target by claiming an illness or asking for directions to a hospital, then offers a fake gold necklace as a reward for assistance.
Kyriacou says one of the suspects then tries to place the necklace around the victim's neck and uses the opportunity to steal real gold jewellery the person is wearing.
In the most recent incident, police allege the suspects pressured a 68-year-old woman into buying a fake gold necklace, then followed her home and intimidated her into giving them more money.
Police say the suspects then drove her to a bank to withdraw more cash, which they took – an incident police are calling a kidnapping.
They say the couple drove a rental car between Vancouver and Montreal and may have committed other offences in that time. A Canada-wide warrant is being sought.
Constantine Caldararu and his wife Elisa, both 34, are wanted for fraud, kidnapping, forcible confinement, robbery, extortion, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of proceeds of crime.
The husband is described as white, six feet two inches tall, 350 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and several tattoos.
The wife is described as five feet eight inches tall, 250 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.
Kyriacou says a search of their home last week netted $16,000, two pounds of fake gold, jewellery used in various offences and "a quantity" of stolen jewellery.