Comoros seeks UK help over Anjouan gambling licensing

The Comoros government is seeking assistance from the United Kingdom and is cooperating with international police and financial intelligence agencies as it prepares possible legal action over an offshore gambling licensing network it says operates without authorisation under the name of Anjouan, citing The Guardian. The dispute could affect close to 1,500 businesses listed on Anjouan's public gambling licence register.

At the heart of the matter is Anjouan Licensing Services, a body that started granting gambling licences in May 2023 while other established offshore markets, such as Curaçao and the Philippines, were tightening their rules. The regime in place today asserts that the Computer Gaming Licensing Act of 2005 provides its legal foundation. The Comoros government, for its part, rejects the legitimacy of the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA), the entity described as supervising the system.

In 1997 Anjouan broke away from Comoros, and it returned to the union only after terms were agreed that gave the islands wide self-rule. While it stood apart, the island built up a financial services sector serving offshore clients.

Comoros' central bank issued a public denunciation of AOFA and Anjouan Corporate Services (ACS) last December, labelling both “fictitious entities” that issue financial licences without authorisation. That warning was aimed chiefly at banking operations. Azad Mzé, a former attorney-general of Comoros, later told Australia’s ABC that Anjouan Licensing Services, the body granting gambling licences, was likewise an “illegal entity.”

Further doubts about the licensing framework emerged from a September 2025 study conducted by Steve Menary and Marko Begović. According to their findings, the version of the purported 2005 law that the public can access had no official signature or stamp, and it was published on the website of the licensing organization itself.

Anjouan Gaming describes itself as the island's official gambling regulator and maintains that its licences are valid, pointing to an independent legal opinion. Even so, the identity of the law firm behind that opinion has not been made public, and the document itself has not been released.

Earlier reporting by Australia’s ABC traced links between ACS and British business figures, among them members of the Sorsky family of London. According to The Guardian, ACS Global Custodian, a firm tied to that family, saw its cash holdings rise sharply over 2025, climbing from GBP 13,130 ($17,524) to GBP 614,826 ($820,594). Where the extra money came from remains unclear.

Harold Sorsky rejected the suggestion that ACS had sold or issued gambling licences after his family took over the company in 2023, attributing such activity to other providers. The investigation further discovered that certain casinos holding Anjouan licences were marketed as substitutes for Britain’s GamStop self-exclusion scheme. In one case, the operator SlotsCharm reportedly flooded a journalist with more than 100 gambling incentives once the reporter had quit betting.

According to the report, the main issue still to be determined is whether the licensing businesses hold the right type of authorisation from the relevant island authorities and whether their activities are lawful under Comoros' national legal framework. Local approval would not necessarily resolve the wider dispute, the report said.