Comoros challenges Anjouan licensing network’s authority
Comoros is seeking UK assistance over an offshore gambling licensing network that it alleges operates without authorization under Anjouan’s name. The government is preparing legal action and pursuing cooperation involving financial intelligence and police authorities.
The challenge concerns the legal authority behind a regime whose public register lists nearly 1,500 gambling businesses. Anjouan Licensing Services began issuing licenses in May 2023, with the system claiming a foundation in the island’s Computer Gaming Licensing Act of 2005.
An earlier ABC News investigation examined the companies issuing licenses and their claimed institutional backing. Former Comoros attorney-general Azad Mzé told the broadcaster that Anjouan Licensing Services lacked legal standing. That assessment forms part of the challenge to the regime; it is not a published court judgment determining every license holder’s position.
Official financial warnings form part of the dispute
A central bank warning published by Comoros’s Finance Ministry identifies the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority and Anjouan Corporate Services among entities purporting to authorize financial institutions without lawful authority. The notice concerns banking and financial services, making its scope narrower than a specific ruling on gambling licenses. It also records referrals to prosecutors in Moroni, Mutsamudu and Mohéli.
Anjouan Gaming disputes challenges to its gambling licenses and cites an independent legal opinion supporting their validity, Casino.org reported. The publication said the organization had not identified the responsible law firm or published that opinion. Harold Sorsky separately denied that Anjouan Corporate Services had sold or issued gambling licenses since his family acquired it in 2023.
The organization has previously acknowledged limits to its licenses’ reach. In a June statement covered by Player Protection Hub, Anjouan Gaming said its authorization did not permit operations worldwide and that licensees remained responsible for compliance in their chosen markets. That position addresses overseas market access separately from Comoros’s challenge to the licensing regime itself.
