Nigerian Dead Woman Appears in UK Court to Reclaim her Estate

I find that Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained, produced, or fabricated

To prevent a convicted fraudster from taking possession of her estate in London, which is valued at £350,000, a (Nigerian dead woman) woman who was erroneously proclaimed dead has appeared in court by videolink from Nigeria.

A lengthy court struggle over June Ashimola’s home has been going on since February 2019, when it was officially documented that she had passed away at the age of 55.

The High Court, however, was taken aback when she made an appearance before Deputy Master John Linwood to demonstrate that she was still very much alive.

According to the testimony presented in court, accomplices of Tony Ashikodi, a convicted fraudster, had been given power of attorney over her inheritance in a fraudulent manner.

Ms. Ruth Samuel, acting on behalf of a Mr. Bakare Lasisi, who asserted that he had married Ashimola in 1993, was given a transfer of control of the land in the year 2022.

The judge, on the other hand, came to the conclusion that Lasisi did not even exist and that Ashimola had been drawn into a complex scheme.

The allegations that she had passed away were fake, according to Ashimola, who had left the United Kingdom for Nigeria in 2018 and had not travelled back.

There were allegations that a lady had been pretending to be her, and there was also a phoney death certificate that had been prepared.

Deputy Master Linwood made the observation that this is an unusual allegation for the purpose of the probate process because the deceased person claims that she is still very much alive.

He decided in Ashimola’s favour, coming to the conclusion that Ashikodi was the one who had plotted the fraud and attempted to mislead the court throughout the proceedings.

Ashimola’s identification was acknowledged by the court, who confirmed her with photographs from her passport, although visa complications prevented her from attending herself.

Because of this verdict, the fraudulent claim that she had made over her London house has been effectively revoked, and she has been restored to her legal possession.

The fact that Ms Ashimola’s putative spouse, Mr Lasisi, did not truly exist, despite the fact that he was said to have sent many emails, was one of the most shocking facts in the case, as reported by the Daily Mail.

“I find that Ms. Ashimola is alive and that the death certificate was forged and/or fraudulently obtained, produced, or fabricated,” the judge said.

“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.

“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.

“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 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.

Deputy Master Linwood decided to cancel the grant associated with the power of attorney after discovering these facts.