A Nigerian woman, June Ashimola, who was wrongly declared de@d, has appeared via videolink from Nigeria to challenge an attempt by a convicted fraudster to seize her £350,000 property in London.
According to Mail Online, 55-year-old Ashimola was reported to have died in February 2019 in Nigeria, sparking a lengthy legal battle over her estate.
However, she recently appeared before High Court judge John Linwood to affirm that she was very much alive and had been a victim of fraud.
The court heard that Ms. Ashimola had been falsely declared deceased, leading to the Power of Attorney over her estate being granted to associates of Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster.
Ms. Ashimola had left the UK for Nigeria in 2018 and had not returned since. In 2022, the Power of Attorney was given to Ms. Ruth Samuel on behalf of a certain Mr. Bakare Lasisi, who claimed to have married Ms. Ashimola in 1993.
However, the judge ruled that Ms. Ashimola had been defrauded and that Mr. Lasisi did not exist.
A fake death certificate was presented to the court, stating that Ms. Ashimola had died in Nigeria in 2019 without leaving a will.
The court was also told that reports of her being seen alive were dismissed as someone “masquerading” as her.
But Ms. Ashimola, speaking via videolink, insisted she was the real person and called the certificate “false and fraudulent.”
“This is an unusual probate claim in that the deceased says she is very much alive,” Deputy Master Linwood remarked, describing the case as one involving “wide-ranging allegations of fraud, forgery, impersonation, and intimidation.”
Despite facing visa issues that prevented her from appearing in person, the judge ruled in her favor after verifying her identity through passport photographs.
Ashikodi, who was previously jailed for three years in 1996 for property fraud, was found to have orchestrated the scheme to take over her home.
The judge concluded that the supposed husband, Mr. Lasisi, was either a fictitious person or unaware that his identity was being used fraudulently.
“I find Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and fraudulently obtained,” Linwood ruled. “Her alleged death was part of Tony Ashikodi’s attempts to wrest control of the property from her.”
The court revoked the fraudulent Power of Attorney and nullified all claims over her estate.
Legal costs in the case have already exceeded £150,000, potentially surpassing the equity value of the property.
