A Nigerian woman falsely declared dead has appeared in court via videolink from Nigeria to stop a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 London home.
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June Ashimola, 55, was officially recorded as having died in February 2019, sparking a long-running legal battle over her estate.
However, she stunned the High Court by appearing before Deputy Master John Linwood to prove she was very much alive.
The court heard that Power of Attorney over her estate had been fraudulently granted to associates of Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster.
In 2022, control of the estate was transferred to a Ms. Ruth Samuel on behalf of one “Mr. Bakare Lasisi,” who claimed to have married Ashimola in 1993.
However, the judge ruled that Lasisi did not even exist and that Ashimola had been the victim of an elaborate scam.
Ashimola, who left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned, told the court that claims of her death were fabricated.
A false death certificate had been produced, and there were even allegations that a woman had been “masquerading” as her.
“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked.
He ruled in Ashimola’s favor, concluding that Ashikodi had orchestrated the fraud and attempted to mislead the court.
Despite visa issues preventing her from attending in person, the judge accepted Ashimola’s identity, confirming her with passport photos.
The ruling effectively revokes the fraudulent claim over her London home, restoring her rightful ownership.
According to the Daily Mail, one of the most startling revelations in the case was that Ms. Ashimola’s supposed husband, Mr. Lasisi, did not actually exist—despite multiple emails allegedly sent by him.
“I find that Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained, produced, or fabricated,” the judge stated.
He further ruled that her alleged death was part of Mr. Tony Ashikodi’s scheme to seize control of the property from her.
“The person who appeared before me and identified herself as Ms. Ashimola bore a strong physical resemblance to the photographs in her passports,” he noted.
The judge also determined that Ms. Ashimola was never married to Mr. Lasisi and that the marriage certificate was a fraudulent or fabricated document.
“I do not accept that Mr. Lasisi exists—or, if he does, that he was aware his identity was being used. I also do not accept that the emails purportedly from him were actually sent by him,” he stated.
He found that the probate power of attorney, supposedly issued by Mr. Lasisi and Ms. Samuel, was fraudulent.
“The death certificate was not proven to the required standard, as only a copy was presented with no known provenance. There was no evidence before me that it was a genuine document representing a real event. I find it was forged and/or fraudulently produced. Those who relied on it—Mr. Tony Ashikodi and Ms. Samuel—were either directly involved in its creation or knew it was false,” he concluded.
As a result of these findings, Deputy Master Linwood revoked the grant related to the power of attorney.
The court also heard that the legal battle had already resulted in “disproportionate” costs exceeding £150,000—an amount that might surpass the property’s equity.
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