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By all appearances, the Indian Ocean island of Anjouan looks like it was purpose-built for offshore finance. No corporate tax. Bare-bones bureaucracy. Virtually no public scrutiny. On paper, it ticks every box for companies looking to operate far from the reach of regulators.
But according to reporting by Julian Fell at ABC, the licences supposedly issued from this tiny African island are not just weakly regulated — they are effectively meaningless. And yet, they continue to fuel a booming shadow industry of online banks, crypto platforms and gambling websites, including casinos illegally targeting Australian players.
At the center of it all is a regulatory ecosystem that, according to Comoros authorities, does not legally exist.
A regulator that outlived its own abolition
Anjouan is one of three islands forming the Union of the Comoros, located off Africa’s east coast. Its reputation as an offshore hub traces back to a brief and chaotic political chapter in the late 1990s, when Anjouan declared independence from the rest of the Comoros.
During that separatist period, the island established its own financial watchdog: the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA). From the outset, its legitimacy was questioned. International observers and Comoros officials repeatedly raised alarms, warning that the offshore banking structures being created on Anjouan had no legal standing under national law.
Those warnings eventually turned into legislation. Following reunification, banking laws passed in 2013 and 2015 formally stripped AOFA of any regulatory authority. In legal terms, it was dissolved.
In practice, it never went away.
Despite being officially defunct, AOFA has continued to operate an online presence, maintaining a public register and “licensing” dozens of banks, insurers, brokers and gambling operators. According to estimates cited in ABC’s reporting, the network selling these licences is likely generating tens of millions of euros annually.
The Comoros Central Bank has been unequivocal. It has issued multiple public warnings describing Anjouan-based regulators as fictitious structures with no physical or legal existence in the country, accusing them of operating purely online to deceive businesses and the public.
Casinos without borders — or brakes
One of the clearest consequences of this regulatory vacuum is the rise of black-market online casinos using Anjouan licences as a façade of legitimacy.
Leon Casino is one such operator. Despite lacking any Australian gambling licence — and offering products banned under Australian law, including online slots, blackjack and in-play sports betting — it continues to court Australian players.
The casino has gone further than most. It has sponsored Australian UFC fighters, hosted VIP events and paid local influencers to promote its brand. There is no indication those involved were aware of the casino’s legal status at the time.
Even after being identified by Australian authorities as an illegal operator in early 2025, Leon Casino reportedly continued accepting Australian customers, offering local payment options such as credit cards, PayID, Apple Pay and Google Pay, alongside cryptocurrency.
When ABC journalists tested the platform using an Australian address, the onboarding process raised few obstacles. Payment gateways were readily available — at least initially. After inquiries were sent to Leon and its payment partners, two providers, including MiFinity, quietly vanished from the site within hours.
The episode highlighted a crucial point: while an Anjouan licence offers little real oversight, it appears to open doors with payment processors — until scrutiny arrives.
The agents behind the curtain
Digging deeper reveals an even murkier picture of who is actually selling these licences.
Businesses seeking authorisation from AOFA are directed to a company called Anjouan Corporate Services, described as its “sole authorised agent”. Like AOFA itself, the company’s digital footprint raises red flags: no listed directors, no board members, no verifiable address.
Comoros financial intelligence officials have stated that Anjouan Corporate Services operates illegally.
Its online presence is managed by an individual using the name “Toby S”, who describes himself as a consultant and uses a UAE phone number. Attempts by ABC to obtain responses from the company and its representatives went unanswered.
Historical records, however, suggest the operation is anything but new. As far back as 2007, Comoros officials linked a British man, Ronnie Dvorkin, to the Anjouan offshore licensing industry. UK corporate records later connected him to entities now labelled fictitious by the Comoros Central Bank.
While Ronnie Dvorkin is now in his late seventies, the industry appears to have passed to a younger generation. Adam Dvorkin surfaced as a consultant within Anjouan Corporate Services at a 2025 gambling conference in Dubai. The same event listed Elliot Sorsky as the company’s director, alongside Toby and Harold Sorsky — members of another English family long associated with the operation.
Multiple UK companies tied to these individuals have since been dissolved, leaving behind a web of connections but little accountability.
A new “gaming authority” — same old problem
In 2023, the Anjouan licensing ecosystem expanded again.
Two new domain names were registered within days of each other: one for a supposed regulator called the Anjouan Gaming Control Board, and another selling gambling licences under that banner. Behind both was a newly formed entity: Anjouan Licensing Services.
The company claims to have issued more than 1,300 gambling licences. At an annual cost of roughly €17,000 per licence, that could translate into revenues exceeding €20 million per year.
As with its predecessor, the company provides no transparency about who runs it. No directors. No governance structure. No address.
Former Comoros officials have described it as illegal.
Domain records, however, point to a key link: both websites were registered through a Costa Rican company connected to Fast Offshore, an international consultancy run by Canadian national Ron Mendelson.
Fast Offshore openly promotes Anjouan as a cost-effective gambling jurisdiction, publishing industry articles praising its speed, low fees and minimal compliance hurdles. Mendelson has been publicly visible at major gambling conferences, interacting with figures linked to Anjouan Corporate Services.
Neither Mendelson nor Fast Offshore responded to ABC’s questions.
A licence that means everything — and nothing
The Anjouan case exposes a troubling loophole in global online gambling and finance. A licence that has no legal standing can still function as a commercial passport — enough to secure payment processing, attract customers and project legitimacy.
For regulators, particularly in countries like Australia, it presents an enforcement nightmare. Operators can claim to be “licensed”, sponsors can plead ignorance, and payment providers can point to paperwork — even if that paperwork originates from an authority that no longer exists.
At its core, the Anjouan model is not about regulation. It is about the appearance of regulation — a commodity sold at scale, with little regard for the consequences.
And as long as those licences keep opening doors, the island’s phantom regulators will likely continue doing business, entirely in the shadows.
Source: abc.net.au
