Michigan Man Sentenced for 2-Year Prison Term for COVID-19 Relief Loan Fraud & Tramadol Trafficking

BOSTON – A Michigan man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for a conspiracy to import and sell illegal pharmaceuticals, including opioids, and to fund the operation of the scheme by fraudulently obtaining a COVID-19 pandemic relief loan.

Donald Nchamukong, 37, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton to two years in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Nchamukong was also ordered to pay $200,000 in restitution.

In March 2025, Nchamukong pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, committing loan fraud and distributing controlled substances.

Starting in 2019 and continuing to 2022, Nchamukong and co-conspirator, Doyal Kalita, conspired to distribute drugs to persons in the United States over the internet and using call centers in India. Nchamukong used shell companies, including a purported dietary supplements company and an auto parts supplier, and associated bank and merchant accounts to process sales of illegal foreign drugs, including the Schedule IV opioid, tramadol.

Nchamukong and Kalita also received shipments of tramadol from India and reshipped the drug to customers across the United States, including in Massachusetts. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nchamukong and Kalita fraudulently obtained a $200,000 Economic Injury Disaster Loan to fund their illegal drug scheme.

In June 2024, Kalita was sentenced to 10 years in prison for orchestrating the online drug distribution scheme, a technical support fraud scheme and related money laundering.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Fernando P. McMillan, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations made the announcement today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit, prosecuted the case.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the dark underbelly of a nation, where desperation and greed have led individuals to commit heinous crimes. This case is a stark reminder of the consequences of such actions and the efforts of law enforcement agencies to bring perpetrators to justice.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.