UK property fraud: ICPC files criminal charge against Ozekhome
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed criminal charges against Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, at the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of receiving property through corrupt means and using forged documents. The charges were filed on 16 January by Ngozi Onwuka of the ICPC’s High […]
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has filed criminal charges against Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, at the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations of receiving property through corrupt means and using forged documents.
The charges were filed on 16 January by Ngozi Onwuka of the ICPC’s High Profile Prosecution Department, follow September 2025 judgment by a London property tribunal that linked the lawyer to “fraud and forged” documents in a dispute over a North London house.
Ozekhome, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, according to the anti-graft agency, faces three criminal counts.
The first count alleges that sometime in August 2021, he directly received House 79 Randall Avenue, London, purportedly given to him by one Shani Tali in a transaction the ICPC says constitutes a felony under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
- The screwdriver salesman behind US airstrikes in Nigeria
- Uganda maintains social media ban after election
The second count accuses the senior lawyer of “making a false document”, a Nigerian passport bearing number A07535463 in the name of Mr Shani Tali, with the intent to support a claim of ownership of the London property. This charge is filed under the Penal Code of the Federal Capital Territory.
In the third count, Mr Ozekhome is accused of “dishonestly” using the allegedly false passport as genuine to support the property ownership claim when he had reason to believe the document was false.
Judge Ewan Paton of the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) delivered a judgment on 11 September 2025 blocking Ozekhome from seizing the house in North London.
The tribunal held that the case was built on a network of fraud, impersonation, and forged documents. Still, it concluded that the late Jeremiah Useni, former Minister of FCT, was the genuine purchaser of the property in 1993.
In August 2021, Ozekhome applied through the Tribunal to transfer the property at 79 Randall Avenue into his name, claiming it was a gift from a man who presented himself as Tali Shani in appreciation for legal services.
However, the application was challenged in September 2022 by Westfields Solicitors, claiming to represent “Ms Tali Shani,” who insisted she was the registered owner of the property since 1993 and had never signed any transfer.
The London tribunal uncovered fraudulent Nigerian identity records, including a passport, a National Identification Number (NIN), and a Tax Identification Number (TIN) allegedly generated with the connivance of corrupt officials at the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Immigration Service, and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
NIMC admitted in evidence that the NIN assigned to “Ms Tali Shani” was fraudulently created remotely from Monaco, using a forged photograph and bypassing biometric requirements. The Nigeria Police Force also confirmed that the address used to back up the fraudulent phone bill was fictitious.
Judge Paton concluded that the supposed Ms Shani “was never a real living person” and that her documents were deliberately fabricated with the connivance of corrupt Nigerian officials. “The entire case was built on forgery and deception,” the judge said, before ruling that the property remained part of Mr Useni’s estate, now subject to probate.
In a letter to the ICPC, the Nigeria Immigration Service confirmed that passport booklet number A07535463 was never utilised due to a defect and consequently had no record of a holder in its database.
The agency said preliminary findings indicated that the passport booklet had personal data “unlawfully superimposed on it with numerous inconsistencies on the data-page, suggesting significant irregularities in its production.”
The ICPC investigation followed a petition by the head of the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA), Olanrewaju Suraj, which accused the lawyer, his son Osilama, and several collaborators of conspiring with corrupt Nigerian officials to procure fake national identity documents in a bid to fraudulently claim ownership of the North London house.
My position – Ozekhome
In his statement at the ICPC, Ozekhome said he was aware of the judgment granted by the First Tier Tribunal in the UK.
“It was prompted by an objection to my application for the transfer of a property situated at 79 Randall Avenue, London, to me, which was filed by myself and Mr Shani Tali before the H.M. Lands Registry UK. I have seen the judgement, now shown to me (albeit an uncertified copy),” he stated.
“This fact about my title to the property, how I came about it, and all have been exhaustively written down and explained to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and I have no further explanation to the same, all issues having been under investigation by the Commission for many months now.”
Mr Ozekhome further said the ownership had been with him since 2021, adding that everything concerning Mr Tali Shani and himself, as regards evidence, could be found in the judgment.
In the UK court documents, Mr Ozekhome admitted that he never knew Mr Shani until January 2019, more than two decades after the disputed purchase, and had no personal knowledge of how the property was acquired or managed in earlier years.
His confidence in the claim, he explained, stemmed largely from his long-standing relationship with Mr Useni, whom he described as both a client and friend for over 20 years.
The Nigerian lawyer told the tribunal that after being introduced to Mr Shani in 2019, he undertook several legal services for him and that the property was later gifted to him in 2021 as an “expression of gratitude.”