TLDR
- Comoros says a gambling licensing network using Anjouan’s name is operating without authorization.
- Nearly 1,500 businesses on Anjouan’s public register hold the disputed licenses.
- The government is seeking British help and working with international police and financial intelligence agencies.
- Researchers found the 2005 gambling law cited by the licensing regime was unsigned and unstamped.
- A company linked to London’s Sorsky family saw its cash rise from £13,130 to £614,826 in 2025.
The government of Comoros says an offshore gambling licensing network using the name of Anjouan, one of its islands, is operating without permission. It is asking the United Kingdom for help with an investigation, according to The Guardian.
Comoros is also working with international police and financial intelligence agencies. The government says it is preparing legal action against those involved.
The dispute covers licenses held by nearly 1,500 businesses listed on Anjouan’s public register. Comoros is challenging the legal status of all of them.
How Anjouan’s Licensing System Began
Comoros is an island nation off Africa’s east coast, between Mozambique and Madagascar. Anjouan is one of its three main islands.
Anjouan declared independence in 1997. It later rejoined the union under a deal that gave the islands a large amount of self-rule. During its time apart, the island built an offshore financial services industry.
Anjouan Licensing Services started issuing gambling licenses in May 2023. This came as Curaçao and the Philippines tightened their own gambling rules.
The licensing regime says its authority comes from the Computer Gaming Licensing Act of 2005. The national government disputes whether the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority, the body said to oversee the system, still has legal standing.
In December 2025, the Comoros central bank called the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority and Anjouan Corporate Services “fictitious entities.” It said they were issuing unauthorized financial licenses, though the warning mainly concerned banking, not gambling.
Former Comoros attorney-general Azad Mzé later told Australia’s ABC that Anjouan Licensing Services was also an “illegal entity.”
A September 2025 study by researchers Steve Menary and Marko Begović raised more questions. They found the public version of the 2005 gambling law had no official signature or stamp. It was hosted on the licensing group’s own website.
Anjouan Gaming, which says it is the island’s official gambling regulator, insists the licenses are valid. It points to an independent legal opinion but has not named the law firm or released the opinion.
Links to British Businessmen
An earlier ABC investigation tied Anjouan Corporate Services to British businessmen, including members of London’s Sorsky family.
The Guardian reported that ACS Global Custodian, a company connected to the family, saw its cash rise from £13,130 ($17,467) to £614,826 ($817,928) in 2025. The source of that increase has not been established.
Harold Sorsky denied that the company had sold or issued gambling licenses since the family bought it in 2023. He said other providers handled those tasks.
The Guardian also found Anjouan-licensed casinos promoted as alternatives to GamStop, Britain’s self-exclusion system for gamblers. One operator, SlotsCharm, contacted a Guardian reporter more than 100 times with gambling offers after the reporter stopped betting.
It is still unclear whether Anjouan’s own authorities approved the businesses issuing licenses in the island’s name. Even if they did, that would not settle the separate question of whether the licenses are legal under national law.
Casino.org was unable to reach Anjouan’s government for comment. For now, Comoros says it is moving ahead with plans for legal action as it seeks help from British authorities.
