Northeast: ED conducts raids in Assam, Nagaland over fake hair export

Guwahati: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday raided primary areas in Nagaland, Assam, and Tamil Nadu “as part of a FEMA investigation into alleged illegal financial transactions under the guise of human hair exports,” officials said.

The probe zeroed in on Lima Imsong and others.

Probe revealed that Imsong Global Suppliers Co., a sole proprietorship owned by Imsong, received foreign inward remittances purportedly for the export of human hair — an activity considered uncommon and commercially unviable in Dimapur.

Despite considerable time, “the entity failed to submit essential export documentation such as shipping bills and export invoice copies to the authorised dealer bank within the prescribed timelines, officials were quoted by The Assam Tribune.

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Such an attitude with export obligations and suppression of required documents constitute violations of FEMA and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directions, according to the agency.

The ED concluded “that the foreign remittances received in Imsong Global’s bank account were diverted to another entity, Inchem India Pvt. Ltd., as well as to the personal accounts of Lima Imsong and his family members," reports The Assam Tribune.

Officials said Inchem India Pvt. Ltd. is owned and controlled by Imsong. The company, previously dormant, became active only when inward remittances began flowing in.

Despite the activity, it reported losses during the period under scrutiny and appeared to be a paper entity, the ED noted.

Funds received in Inchem India’s bank account were further diverted to certain “suspicious” entities involved in the trading of human hair in Chennai, officials added.

The investigation is on.