Four Members of Bronx “War Room” Charged in $12 Million Medicaid Fraud and Racketeering Scheme

Four members of a Bronx-based racketeering organization known as the “War Room” have been charged in a nine-count indictment for their roles in a wide-ranging conspiracy involving the fabrication of transportation data used to support at least $12 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims. Louis Trejo, Kenneth Garner, Harold Stevenson, and Erihk Belis are accused of racketeering, healthcare fraud, wire fraud, violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, narcotics distribution, firearms offenses, and money laundering.

According to court documents, the defendants recruited Medicaid-eligible patients from methadone clinics in the Bronx and Manhattan to sign up for medical transportation rides that were never actually provided. They entered patient information into ride-tracking applications, logged fake rides without providing any transportation services, and used GPS “spoofing” technology to falsify pickup and drop-off coordinates.

In exchange for using patients’ Medicaid enrollment information, the defendants paid weekly kickbacks in cash and drugs, including fentanyl and heroin. These fake rides generated data for hundreds of fraudulent claims per week, which were provided to collusive transportation companies that submitted them to Medicaid. To protect their scheme, Trejo and Garner allegedly directed a violent home invasion robbery against the leader of a rival fraud ring.

“Today’s allegations underscore the troubling connection between benefits fraud and violent criminal networks,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald. This case reflects the government’s aggressive pursuit of healthcare fraud, particularly schemes that exploit vulnerable patients and taxpayer-funded programs through illegal kickbacks and organized criminal activity.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, HHS-OIG, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.