Ask any member of the public to point out the tiny autonomous island of Anjouan on a map, or better yet, ask an Irish influencer promoting the results of a fictitious gaming license, and you’ll likely be disappointed or even mildly amused by their efforts.
Its true location is between Madagascar and the southeast coast of mainland Africa, and it forms one of the three main islands of the Union of Comoros, a former French colony that gained independence in 1975. Comoros is Africa’s third smallest country, only slightly larger than its distant neighbor Seychelles.
In an almost unprecedented move, political instability and corrupt regulatory bodies have led to an influx of unlicensed sports betting and online gambling websites in Ireland. After a period of political turmoil, Anjouan itself claimed independence from the neighboring islands of the Comoros in 1997. Shortly thereafter, the Anjouan separatist government established its own financial regulator, the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority (AOFA).
However, attempts to legalize the new regulatory body were marred by a series of scandals, including allegations of money laundering and criminal recruitment, and the World Bank later declared offshore bank establishment in Anjouan illegal.
In 2002, Anjouan returned to the Comoros, but a subsequent banking law formally stripped AOFA of its regulatory status. But to this day, AOFA maintains a register of dozens of financial companies, including banks, insurance companies, and especially gambling sites.
On its website, AOFA describes itself as “renowned for its favorable regulatory environment.” In 2022, the Central Bank of the Comoros issued a stern warning to AOFA, accusing it of being a “fictitious” organization that illegally issues licenses and provides banking and financial services through its website and online platforms.
Despite these warnings, many gambling websites continue to tout the Anjouan-issued license as a sign of legitimacy, and a growing number of them target Irish consumers.
In addition to being illegal, unlicensed gambling companies often impose conditions that are not approved by legitimate regulators, and the potential for losses is significantly higher.
Gambana.com, an online casino and sports betting provider, is owned and operated by JJAM Holdings Ltd, a Central American company registered in Belize. Still, the website itself has been licensed by AOFA since November 2025. Importantly, Gambana does not have a license to operate in Ireland.
However, the company’s illegal operations in Ireland have not deterred several major influencers in the online sports world from promoting the company.
One such influencer is 26-year-old Jonathan Finlay, better known by his online persona Nasti_2k. The Dublin-based social media personality has amassed over 670,000 followers on TikTok and a further 275,000 followers on Instagram. He also runs a channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging app dedicated to gambling.
Finlay, who is known for flaunting his lavish lifestyle on social media, including first-class flights and Premier League matches, has promoted Anjou-licensed Gambana several times on his platform, the influencer’s lawyer confirmed to the paper. Last month, Finlay announced a commercial partnership with a gambling website.
Mr. Finley’s lawyers, LaBelle Partners, said in a statement: “Our client has made its affiliation with Gambana clear to the audience.”
“Our client makes it clear that he is not a professional gambler or financial advisor so that viewers are not misled as to the nature of his content or expertise,” they added.
Finlay was the subject of an investigation by the Central Bank of Ireland last year for promoting an unlicensed financial trading platform called T4Trade.
T4Trade, which is registered in the Seychelles, said it is not targeting EU residents as it does not have the necessary licenses to operate in the jurisdiction.
Irish influencer Jonathan Morley took Gambana’s promotion even further. His account on X (formerly Twitter) was marked with a Gambana badge, indicating to his more than 26,000 followers that he was connected to Gambana.
Morley, a die-hard Liverpool fan, has amassed a further 55,000 followers on Instagram and more than 630,000 followers on TikTok.
But when you tell them, Mr Morley said he only recently learned that Gambana was operating without a license in Ireland after reading an article about another content creator who was also promoting Gambana.
“Since then, I have stopped promoting the company and have reached out to them to terminate the partnership as soon as possible,” Morley said.
Mr. Morley also had his Gambana affiliate badge removed from his X account.
However, social media personality and professional tipster Rob Heneghan did not comment when contacted by the newspaper. About Gambana promotion.
Heneghan, who operates online under the company name Pro Sports Advice (PSA), boasts more than one million followers across various social media platforms and, like Finlay, enjoys showcasing his lavish lifestyle online, including private jets, luxury vacations and celebrity hangouts.
PSA also runs a popular channel on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, where it has attracted more than 90,000 subscribers. In this, the company promoted Gambana several times, touting it as having the best odds compared to other licensed betting companies such as Bet365.
On January 18, the PSA Inner Circle Telegram channel wrote:
“The difference in odds between Bet365 and Gambana is 2/6 (1.67) and 23/20 (2.15).” PSA advertises itself as the world’s largest and most trusted tipping community, with over 15,000 monthly paying members. The company offers its top membership for 149 euros per month, with a cheaper standard price of 19 euros.
PSA filed its 2024 financial statements with the Companies Registrar in January, but the documents were returned to the company. Latest financial statements have not yet been filed.
In the documents returned, PSA reported a profit of 718,000 euros for the 2024 financial year, taking cumulative profits to just under 2 million euros.
The returned accounts also showed that freehold properties worth more than €1 million had been added. PSA bought the five-bedroom beach house in Silver Beach, Gormanstown, Co. Meath, for an initial asking price of €885,000, according to land registry records. Land registry records show that Pro Sports Advice Limited acquired ownership of the property in May 2024.
Online gambling site Rainbet says it is recognized as one of the “best crypto casino options”. This is the brand name of RBGaming NV and its address is Mustamudou, Hamchako, Anjouan Autonomous Island, Union of Comoros.
The website allows customers to bet on Ireland’s UEFA World Cup qualifying matches, Ireland U18 friendlies and U21 European Championship qualifiers.
Rainbet does not have a license to operate in Ireland and would have difficulty obtaining one even if it tried.
In its terms and conditions details, Rainbet bans all VPNs that hide a customer’s true location, only allows customers 72 hours to attempt a bet, and caps winnings from welcome bonuses and affiliate codes at $50, regardless of stake.
Additionally, Rainbet says it will not pay more than $500 if it is found to be responsible, no matter how much the customer may have lost.
In recent years, the Rainbet logo has been embedded in social media videos and advertisements targeted at Irish customers, particularly across online sports circles.
“It’s not surprising that they’re targeting these kinds of online communities,” said Paddy Keogh, a Dublin blogger and author.
“It’s full of young men, many of them under 25, who are passionate about football and prone to impulsive behavior.” In 2023, Keogh founded the sports media website AttackingFootball.com, to which he frequently contributes along with a team of other international writers.
Last September, Mr Keogh wrote online about the growing presence of rain bet ads in the online sports world, warning readers to avoid the site and highlighting the lack of regulatory oversight.
The next day, his website became the target of a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
A DDoS attack is a malicious attempt to disrupt a website’s normal operation by overwhelming it with a flood of artificial Internet traffic. This can overload the website’s servers and cause a denial of service to genuine traffic.
“We were getting traffic coming in from random countries,” Keogh said. .
“Suddenly we had more traffic from Zimbabwe, Yemen and other places where no one reads the website.” Keogh said he contacted Rainbet once the DDoS attacks began and repeatedly asked if gambling sites were involved. There was no reply from him.
Mr Keogh added: “As a result of the attack, the website was subsequently removed from Google and had a significant impact.”
“This all happened in September, and we’re still forced to block traffic from certain countries. I’m still dealing with bots.”
In a statement to the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), which has taken over the role of issuing gambling licenses from the Revenue, has confirmed that it is illegal to operate in Ireland without a gambling license issued by the Revenue or GRAI.
GRAI warned that “illegal gambling involves many risks.”
“Personal data and financial information are at risk of being compromised and all protections that apply when gambling on a regulated market are stripped away.” GRAI added that offering gambling activities without a license is a “serious offense” and can result in up to eight years’ imprisonment if convicted.
“The seriousness of the crime reflects the dangers associated with the black market.” Rainbet and Gambana did not respond when contacted. .
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