A Nigerian woman, June Ashimola who was falsely declared dead has appeared in court via videolink from Nigeria to prevent a convicted fraudster from taking over her £350,000 United Kingdom, UK, home.
Ashimola was reportedly deceased in February 2019 in her home country, leading to a protracted legal battle over her estate.
However, she presented herself before High Court judge John Linwood to assert that she was alive and the victim of an elaborate scam.
The court heard that Ashimola initiated legal proceedings after being wrongly declared dead, allowing Power of Attorney over her estate—primarily comprising a house—to be granted to associates of convicted fraudster Tony Ashikodi.
According to court records, Ashimola had departed the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since. In October 2022, Power of Attorney over her estate was awarded to Ms. Ruth Samuel on behalf of Bakare Lasisi, who alleged he had married Ashimola in 1993.
However, the judge ruled that Ashimola was a victim of fraud and that Lasisi did not even exist.
It was alleged that Ashimola passed away in Nigeria in 2019 without leaving a will, with a purported death certificate presented at the High Court as evidence. Furthermore, claims surfaced that any sightings of her after her supposed death were merely a case of another woman impersonating her.
Addressing the court, Ashimola refuted the claims, stating she was only “allegedly deceased,” that the certificate was “false and fraudulent,” and that the grant concerning her estate—including her property in Woolwich, southeast London—had been “improperly” obtained.
“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked as quoted by DailyMail UK.
“The root of this claim is a long-running battle or campaign waged by a Mr. Tony Ashikodi for control and/or ownership of the Property.
“Ms. Ashimola left the UK for Nigeria in about October 2018 and has not returned since. This claim involves wide-ranging allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation.”
To determine whether the grant should be revoked, Deputy Master Linwood outlined key questions: “Is June Ashimola alive? Is the person claiming to be June Ashimola her? Did Mr. Lasisi marry June Ashimola?”
Ashimola’s inability to attend the hearing in person due to visa challenges led to some aspects of her testimony being deemed “unsatisfactory.”
However, the judge ultimately accepted her identity, corroborated by passport photographs.
After evaluating the evidence, including testimony from Mr. Ashikodi—who had served three years in prison in 1996 for obtaining property by deception—Deputy Master Linwood concluded that Ashikodi had “orchestrated” the fraud and sought to “mislead the court.”
Among the court’s most striking findings was that Ashimola’s alleged husband, Lasisi, did not exist, despite multiple emails purportedly sent by him.
“I find Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the Death Certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained or produced or concocted,” the judge ruled.
“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 was physically like her photographs in each passport.
“I find that Ms. Ashimola was not married to Mr. Lasisi and that the marriage certificate is a concocted or fraudulent document for these reasons.
“I do not accept Mr. Lasisi exists or if he does, is aware of his identity being used. I do not accept that emails supposedly from him were actually from him.
“I find that the probate power of attorney submitted supposedly by Mr. Lasisi and Ms. Samuel was a fraudulently produced or concocted document.
“The death certificate was not proven to the necessary standard in that only a copy was produced. 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. The persons who relied upon it, namely Mr. Tony Ashikodi and Ms. Samuel, were either directly involved in its production or else knew it was false.”
As a result of these findings, Deputy Master Linwood revoked the Power of Attorney grant.
The court was informed that both parties had already incurred substantial legal expenses exceeding £150,000, an amount that could surpass the equity value of the property.
