Four Members of the 'War Room' Charged in $12 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme
Federal prosecutors unsealed a nine-count indictment charging four Bronx residents with racketeering, fraud, and related offenses for allegedly fabricating Medicaid transportation claims. The case is at the charging stage and remains undecided.
2 reports on this incident · first at Aug 21, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ET
On August 20, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of a nine-count indictment charging Louis Trejo, Kenneth Garner, Harold Stevenson, and Erihk Belis with racketeering, violence in aid of racketeering, firearms, fraud, narcotics, and money laundering offenses. The charges stem from an alleged scheme to generate fake ride data supporting at least $12 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims for methadone clinic transportation.
According to the indictment, the defendants operated a Bronx-based racketeering organization called the "War Room," which recruited Medicaid patients, logged fake rides using GPS spoofing, and paid kickbacks in cash and drugs. The indictment also alleges that Trejo and Garner directed a January 12, 2024, armed home invasion robbery of a rival fraud ring leader in Teaneck, New Jersey.
Trejo, Garner, and Belis were arrested and expected to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. Stevenson remains at large. The case is only at the charging stage, and the charges are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, and the matter has not been decided by a court.
Earlier reports
Aug 21, 2026, 12:10 p.m. ETFirst report
Four Members of the 'War Room' Charged in $12 Million Medicaid Fraud Scheme
On August 20, 2026, federal prosecutors unsealed a nine-count indictment charging Louis Trejo, Kenneth Garner, Harold Stevenson, and Erihk Belis with racketeering, violence in aid of racketeering, firearms, fraud, narcotics, and money laundering offenses, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The defendants are alleged members of a Bronx-based racketeering organization known as the "War Room" that fabricated transportation data to support at least $12 million in fraudulent Medicaid claims for methadone clinic rides that were never provided. The indictment alleges the group paid kickbacks to Medicaid patients in cash and drugs, including fentanyl and heroin, and used GPS spoofing to make fake rides appear legitimate.
Trejo, Garner, and Belis were arrested and expected to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. Stevenson remains at large. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. As this matter is only at the charging stage, it has not been decided by a court.
The indictment also alleges that to protect their scheme, Trejo and Garner directed a January 12, 2024, armed home invasion robbery of a rival fraud ring leader in Teaneck, New Jersey, during which victims were restrained, assaulted, and held at gunpoint. The robbery netted approximately $25,000 in cash and other items.
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Revision history
- Version 121 Aug 2026, 16:22current
First published.
- Version 121 Aug 2026, 16:10current
First published.
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