Comoros government disputes legitimacy of Anjouan-branded gambling licences
An investigation by Guardian gambling found a London property family issuing gambling licences under the name of the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan, a scheme the Comoros government says is illegitimate.
The small Indian Ocean island of Anjouan, part of the Union of Comoros between Mozambique and Madagascar, has become a byword for unregulated online gambling, according to an investigation by Guardian gambling.
Nearly 1,500 operators appear on the public register of the Anjouan Gaming Authority, many of them crypto-focused casinos. Guardian gambling reported that the best known is BC.Game, which has sponsored Leicester City FC's shirts and has been accused of taking bets from UK customers despite holding no British licence.
A newer entrant, BetBolt, has pursued a more conspicuous route to reach British audiences. It said it paid the porn actor Bonnie Blue $1.2m (£910,000) to win an auction for naming rights to her newborn baby, then brought in the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, as a guest croupier earlier this month, his arrival soundtracked by Rule, Britannia!.
BetBolt said Robinson's fee went toward fundraising for fellow activist Daniel "Danny Tommo" Thomas. A spokesperson for the site told Guardian gambling that it did not accept bets from UK gamblers and that Robinson brought "big global awareness", adding: "We are simply doing this for brand awareness."
Many other Anjouan licensees market themselves using the phrase "not on GamStop", a reference to the UK's national self-exclusion scheme that legitimate operators are required to honour. Regulators and addiction specialists say such keyword advertising is designed to reach people trying to quit gambling. Some sites can only be reached through a virtual private network.
Guardian gambling tested one such operator, SlotsCharm, signing up and placing slot machine bets without difficulty. Once the betting stopped, the outlet said it received more than 100 calls and emails offering incentives to keep playing. A spokesperson for the site said it was "regulated by our internal rules" and that it was "your choice if you want to play with us or not to play".
Anjouan Gaming states on its website that it operates under the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority, which it says was set up under Comoros law to license gaming, cryptocurrency, brokerage, banking and insurance activity. The Comoros government disputes that account. A spokesperson for the Central Bank of the Comoros told Guardian gambling that the licensing regime amounted to "illegal" activity.
Guardian gambling traced the operation behind the Anjouan branding to the Sherm Group, a family business run from a four-storey office in Finchley, north London, which owns a property portfolio reported to be worth more than £25m and also offers asset finance and private jet and helicopter travel.
Its managing director, 57-year-old Elliot Sorsky, had claimed on LinkedIn to hold degrees from Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford, including a real estate qualification. Oxford told Guardian gambling it had never offered such a degree, and Sorsky's LinkedIn profile has since been removed. He has also appeared in footage from this year's Irish Poker Open, with limited success at the tables, the outlet reported.
Guardian gambling said evidence suggests members of the Sorsky family have effectively acted as administrators for underground casinos operating under the Anjouan name around the world, even as the Comoros authorities now seek to challenge the arrangement with UK assistance.