{"id":15709,"date":"2026-01-07T12:49:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T15:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=15709"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:17:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:17:58","slug":"anjouan-license-scam-comoros-warns-of-fake-gambling-permits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/anjouan-license-scam-comoros-warns-of-fake-gambling-permits","title":{"rendered":"Anjouan licence scam: Comoros warns of fake gambling permits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Licences are reportedly sold online, often with promises of fast approval and no taxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Comoros.- Authorities in Comoros<\/strong> have issued warnings about companies selling gambling and financial licences in the name of Anjouan<\/strong>, an island in the Union of the Comoros<\/strong>. They say these licences lack any legal basis, as the entities issuing them operate without official recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials point to the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA) <\/strong>as the main entity behind the operation. The regulatory body was set up in the 1990s<\/strong> during a time of political separation on the island. However, after Anjouan rejoined the Comoros, national banking laws passed in 2013 and 2015<\/strong> ended AOFA’s authority. Despite this, AOFA maintains an online registry of licensed companies, covering banks, insurers and gambling operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linked to AOFA are firms like Anjouan Corporate Services<\/strong> and Anjouan Licensing Services<\/strong>. The former acts as AOFA’s agent, while the latter, launched in 2023, handles gambling licences via the Anjouan Gaming Control Board<\/strong>. It claims to have issued more than 1,300 such licences, each costing around \u20ac17,000<\/strong> per year. Another firm tied to the licensing network is Fast Offshore<\/strong>, a Costa Rica-based consultancy firm which promotes Anjouan as an affordable option for gambling operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These licences are reportedly sold online, often with promises of fast approval and no taxes. Operators pay fees and submit forms digitally, receiving documents that look official but rely on outdated laws from 2005. The process skips real checks, allowing sites to claim regulation without it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Comoros Central Bank<\/strong> has repeatedly stated that AOFA and related entities have “no physical or legal existence” in the country. Officials caution that the groups put consumers at risk and undermine regulatory checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fake licences are also causing ripples in global markets, with Australian authorities <\/strong>warning that unlicensed offshore gambling sites are using them to deceive locals into thinking they’re legitimate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January<\/strong> 2026<\/strong>, the network remains active, with promotions for Anjouan licences still appearing online.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Ethiopia flags betPawa over unlicensed sports betting<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Licences are reportedly sold online, often with promises of fast approval and no taxes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":8615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Comoros authorities have issued warnings regarding the sale of illegitimate gambling and financial licenses under the name of Anjouan, primarily by entities like AOFA and its affiliates. These licenses, often promoted online with promises of fast approval and no taxes, lack legal basis due to outdated laws and non-recognition by the Comoros Central Bank. This illicit activity poses significant risks to consumers, undermines global regulatory compliance, and has prompted warnings from international authorities like those in Australia.","focusai_entities":"Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA), Anjouan Corporate Services, Anjouan Licensing Services, Anjouan Gaming Control Board, Fast Offshore, Comoros Central Bank, Australian authorities","focusai_location":"Comoros, Anjouan, Costa Rica, Australia","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.8), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (1.0), investor_analyst (0.9), gambler_consumer (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Global Regulatory Response","query":"What coordinated international regulatory actions are being considered or implemented to effectively counter the proliferation of such illicit licensing schemes and protect consumers across jurisdictions?"},{"label":"Operator Due Diligence","query":"How are legitimate iGaming operators enhancing their due diligence processes to ensure their B2B partners and affiliates are not inadvertently supporting or promoting entities operating under fraudulent licenses?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60013,60023],"tags":[71,60036,60033],"class_list":["post-15709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-africa","category-legal-news","tag-gambling","tag-igaming","tag-regulation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15709"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15720,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15709\/revisions\/15720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}