A Nigerian woman who was falsely declared dead has appeared in court via video link from Nigeria to prevent a convicted fraudster from seizing her £350,000 home in London.
According to Mail Online, 55-year-old June Ashimola was reported to have died in February 2019 in her native country, sparking a bizarre legal battle over her estate. However, she recently appeared before High Court Judge John Linwood to assert that she was alive and had been a victim of fraud.
Ms. Ashimola initiated legal action after being falsely declared deceased, which led to the Power of Attorney over her estate being granted to associates of convicted fraudster Tony Ashikodi. The court was informed that she had left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since.
In October 2022, the Power of Attorney over her estate was granted to Ms. Ruth Samuel on behalf of Mr. Bakare Lasisi, who claimed to have married Ms. Ashimola in 1993. However, Judge Linwood ruled that Ms. Ashimola was the victim of fraud and that Mr. Lasisi did not exist.
A copy of Ms. Ashimola’s alleged death certificate was presented in court, claiming she had died in 2019 without leaving a will. There were even claims that sightings of her were actually a different woman masquerading as her. However, Ms. Ashimola refuted these claims, stating that she was only "allegedly deceased" and that the certificate was "false and fraudulent." She argued that the grant relating to her estate and her home in Woolwich, southeast London, had been improperly obtained.
Judge Linwood described the case as highly unusual, stating, "This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive." He noted that the claim involved allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation, all allegedly orchestrated by Tony Ashikodi in an attempt to seize her property.
Key questions the judge sought to answer included whether Ms. Ashimola was indeed alive, whether she was who she claimed to be, and whether Mr. Lasisi had actually married her. Ms. Ashimola's inability to appear in court in person due to visa issues left some aspects of her evidence unsatisfactory, but the judge ultimately ruled in her favor. He verified her identity through passport photos and determined that she was telling the truth.
After hearing testimony from Mr. Ashikodi, who was previously jailed for three years in 1996 for property deception, Judge Linwood concluded that he had orchestrated the fraud and attempted to mislead the court. One of the judge’s more startling findings was that Ms. Ashimola’s supposed husband, Mr. Lasisi, did not exist despite numerous emails purportedly sent by him.
Judge Linwood ruled, "I find Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained or produced. Her alleged death was part of Mr. Tony Ashikodi’s attempts to wrest control of the property from her. The person who appeared before me and identified herself as Ms. Ashimola physically resembled her photographs in each passport."
He further ruled that Ms. Ashimola was never married to Mr. Lasisi and that the supposed marriage certificate was fraudulent. "I do not accept that Mr. Lasisi exists or, if he does, that he is aware of his identity being used. I do not accept that emails supposedly from him were actually from him," he added.
The judge also found that the Power of Attorney submitted by Mr. Lasisi and Ms. Samuel was fraudulent and that the death certificate was not proven to be genuine. "The provenance was unknown. There was no evidence before me that it was a genuine document evidencing a real event. I find it was forged and/or fraudulently produced or concocted," he stated.
Based on these findings, Deputy Master Linwood revoked the Power of Attorney grant. The court was informed that both parties had already accumulated legal costs exceeding £150,000, which may surpass the equity in the property.