June Ashimola, wrongly declared dead, reclaims her London home after a High Court battle against fraud.
Someone claimed June died in 2019. They said later sightings of her were fake. It was said another woman was pretending to be her.
Bakare Olatoye Lasisi claimed the house. He said he wed June in 1993. Ruth Samuel held power of attorney for him. The home was worth £347,000.
The High Court heard an unusual case. Deputy Master John Linwood made a ruling: June Ashimola is actually alive; a false death certificate existed.
June showed a recently expired passport. This convinced the judge she was truthful. She gave evidence by video from Nigeria; the call quality was partially bad.
The judge decided the marriage was fake. He said Mr. Lasisi probably does not exist. A convicted fraudster named Tony Ashikodi ran the scheme. He went to jail in 1996.
Ashikodi’s sister, Justina, testified in court. She said Tony could forge anything and easily obtain forged Nigerian documents.
The judge declared Ms. Ashimola is alive and the death certificate was falsely obtained. Ashikodi tried to seize her property, which was the whole point.
The judge does not believe Mr. Lasisi is real and thinks emails from him were fake too. The judge overturned Letters of Administration, which gave her estate to Ms. Samuel in 2022.