African island faces offshore gambling network: dangerous business

Anjouan Island, rising in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar, is a corner of the Earth that few people have heard of, let alone seen with their own eyes.

On this tiny volcanic island known locally as Nzwani, one of the islands that make up the Union of Comoros, ylang-ylang oil and vanilla are the main exports.

However, Anjouan found himself at the center of a much more dangerous but highly profitable industry - underground online gambling. The African island has gained notoriety for selling licenses to casino scammers, many of whom work illegally. Some appear to target vulnerable customers, while others are accused of refusing to pay out winnings.

The name of the faraway island seems to have been appropriated by a small group of mostly British businessmen who issued unofficial “licenses” for banking, cryptocurrency trading and, it seems, gambling, all from a safe green suburb of London located 5,000 miles away. However, the island is now resisting.

Located in a nondescript four-story office building in the London suburb of Finchley, the Sherm Group is an outwardly respectable but inconspicuous family business. Sherm owns a portfolio of properties worth more than £25m and claims to offer additional services including asset financing and even flights on private jets and helicopters. The company is kept in the shadows, which cannot be said about its managing director, 57-year-old Elliot Sorsky.

The available evidence suggests that family members may have acted as intermediaries in the creation of underground casinos aimed at players around the world. Anjouan Gambling Authority’s public registry has about 1,500 registered gambling license holders, many of whom specialize in cryptocurrency gambling.

In the UK, a national self-exclusion tool known as GamStop allows players to opt out of any bets. Legitimate operators are required to apply the GamStop exceptions.

Numerous Anjouan licensees are touted online as “not participating in GamStop” – targeted keyword advertising that regulators and experts say is designed to attract people who are likely struggling with addiction. In some cases, access to casinos licensed in Anjouan is only possible through a virtual private network. Others do not seem to hesitate to take part in British business.

During the test, The Guardian easily registered with one of them, SlotsCharm, and made several bets on slot machines. When betting stopped, casino representatives made more than 100 phone calls or emailed offering incentives for repeat bets. In theory, such sites are not governed by their own internal rules, but by Anjouan Gaming, an organization whose website states that its governing body is the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority.

It is alleged to have been created under Comoros law to oversee gambling, cryptocurrency, brokerage, banking and insurance licenses. But according to the Comoros government, this is an elaborate fiction.

According to a spokesman for the Central Bank of the Comoros, this licensing regime was an “illegal activity” of those who “abused the name of the Comoros to give themselves the appearance of legitimacy.” It is a matter of “serious concern” undermining the tiny country’s efforts to step up measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.