KITCHENER -- A Waterloo man has pleaded guilty in connection to a multi-million-dollar fraud case.

Constantinos Mathios pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 on Thursday afternoon.

According to the agreed statement of facts, he defrauded 16 people into buying shares for Magma Gold, a private mining company.

Magma Gold is a real company, but the statement shows that he was never authorized to sell securities, and he never had a relationship with the company.

The agreed statement of facts shows that collected a total of $577,982 in Canadian currency and US$1,300,500.

None of that money actually went to Magma Gold – he kept the money for himself to live a "lavish lifestyle," the agreed statement of facts says.

Heather Caron's husband, Barrie Conrod, was one of the victims.

"I was told it was $1.8 million," she said. "He promised him a significant return."

Caron said her husband never saw the returns he was promised.

"He wasn't getting paid out, but he didn't want to let go of this connection in case he got paid out," she said. "It was just so cruel."

Conrod died in 2012 after he was hit by a vehicle while riding his bike.

"Honestly for me, I'm just happy to have some closure in this," Caron said. "I think that he and his girlfriend both lived a lavish lifestyle off of this money and I'm not sure what justice there is for that."

Caron said there's no way she'll ever be able to get her husband's money back.

Sentencing will be adjourned until in-person court resumes. No date has been set.

Correction:

This is a corrected story. A previous version stated that the Agreed Statement of Facts showed Matios had taken $3.4 million. In fact, the statement showed the sum was about $2.3 million in Canadian dollars -- $577,982 in Canadian currency and US$1,300,500.