A Nigerian woman, June Ashimola, who was falsely declared dead, has appeared via videolink from Nigeria before a UK High Court to prevent a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 home in Woolwich, southeast London.
Ashimola was reportedly declared deceased in February 2019, leading to a lengthy legal battle over her estate. However, she presented herself before Deputy Master John Linwood to assert that she was alive and had fallen victim to a sophisticated scam.
The court heard that after she was wrongly declared dead, Power of Attorney over her estate—primarily the property—was granted to Ms Ruth Samuel on behalf of Bakare Lasisi, who claimed to have married Ashimola in 1993.
However, the judge ruled that the marriage was fabricated and that Lasisi did not exist.
Court records show that Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned. By October 2022, Power of Attorney was awarded to Samuel on behalf of Lasisi, who claimed rights to Ashimola’s estate.
The judge concluded that Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster who served three years in prison in 1996 for obtaining property by deception, had orchestrated the elaborate scheme to seize control of her home.
“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked, describing the case as a web of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation.
Despite visa challenges preventing her from appearing in person, Ashimola’s identity was verified through passport photographs, leading the judge to dismiss the claims against her estate.
After reviewing the evidence, Deputy Master Linwood ruled: “June Ashimola is alive, and the death certificate was forged. Mr Lasisi does not exist, and the alleged marriage certificate was fraudulent. The Power of Attorney granted to Samuel was obtained through fraud.”
He further accused Ashikodi of attempting to mislead the court and found that both Ashikodi and Samuel were either directly involved in producing the fraudulent documents or knowingly relied on them.
As a result, the Power of Attorney was revoked, safeguarding Ashimola’s rightful ownership of her £350,000 property.
The court also heard that legal costs incurred by both parties have exceeded £150,000, an amount that may surpass the property’s equity value.
Nigerian woman falsely declared dead stops fraudster from seizing her £350k UK home
