The widow of a terminally ill man who was conned out of almost half a million pounds by a close friend condemned the fraudster as a 'despicable man ' . World-famous lighting architect , Jonathan Speirs , was persuaded to part with a total of £476,864 by friend and neighbour Keith Cameron through a complicated ruse . Now Jonathan 's widow Elizabeth Speirs , 58 , has revealed the heartless crime has left the family struggling for cash . She has been forced to sell off her home in Edinburgh which she shared with her husband for 24 years . Heartless : Neighbour Keith Cameron convinced his terminally ill friend Jonathan Speirs to part with nearly £500,000 in a complicated ruse . Cameron , 54 , conned Jonathan - who was dying of stomach cancer - out of thousands of pounds by claiming his company , Chase Telecom Ltd , required money to win a valuable contract to supply telecom services . The devious businessman repeatedly claimed the company was trading well and that investors had pumped millions of pounds of money into the business . Cameron , who was a close family friend of the Speirs , insisted Jonathan could expect to receive a return on his investment of around £2 million within two years . But it later emerged the entire operation was a lie and that Cameron , also from Edinburgh , had been using Jonathan 's cash to maintain a luxury lifestyle . The father-of-two , who has now been declared bankrupt , was found guilty of fraud at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Wednesday and will be sentenced next month . Jonathan 's wife Elizabeth said the cruel scheme had left her and her two daughters , Lucie and Erin , in 'dire straits financially . ' Tragic : Elizabeth Speirs is being forced to sell the home she shared with her late husband Jonathan ( right ) after cruel scheme left them broke . Elizabeth , who recently underwent radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer , said : . 'It has n't quite sunk in - I 'm just very grateful that the jury saw through him . 'He 's just a despicable man , and what he did to my husband - who was a good man - is just awful , and the financial situation he has left us in is awful . ' I 'm going to have to sell my house soon , as I ca n't afford to stay . ' I never got a chance to grieve for my husband because I found this out right away . I feel like I have been robbed of so much in my life - my husband , a friend , and the chance to build a new life for me and my daughters . 'My husband had withdrawn money from a policy that he had taken out in case either he or his [ business ] partner became ill , so that he could exit his company without any financial impact . 'The Camerons have been friends with us for a very long time . They were people we trusted . ' On Wednesday , the court heard Cameron had a mortgage of £1.34m million , had bought cars for his wife and daughter , took holidays in a luxury villa and sent his two daughters to an Edinburgh private school . One of his daughters also attended the American Academy of Drama and the Arts in New York and had a student flat near the Empire State Building . Victim : The late Jonathan Speirs was duped into paying £500,000 to Cameron , who spent the money on funding a luxury lifestyle . Cameron had signed off three payments to Jonathan amounting to £75,935 , in what were supposedly dividends from the telecoms company but it later turned out to be . Jonathan 's own money funnelled back to him . Elizabeth said : 'He [ Cameron ] did it because he was broke . 'Our money paid for two Minis - one for his wife and one for his daughter . It paid for the school fees for his daughters , and holidays to Portugal and Spain . 'He has been living a lie for many , many years . He has n't worked since 2009 - since then he has purportedly been setting up a business . He just got used to the good life and he did n't want to give it up . 'But his wife and his daughters are not implicated in this - I want to make that clear . 'It 's not something you would have been looking out for . When somebody comes back to you with good states of account and it 's a friend who you know has a good track record , you think everything is going to be okay . 'It 's not something you would expect of a friend . ' I 'm 58 and should be thinking of retiring but Keith Cameron spent the money on his own family and a lavish lifestyle . '
Close friend duped dad with stomach cancer into investment . Promised it would make a £2million return within next month . Money paid for holidays , school fees and cars for fraudster Cameron . He has now been declared bankrupt and due to be sentenced two years . Widow says she has been robbed of husband and chance to start again .