NYC taxi drivers caught overcharging passengers
NEW YORK - New York City investigators say several taxi drivers have confessed to defrauding passengers through overcharging.
The city's Department of Investigation (DOI) says the drivers would overcharge passengers with non-existing tolls and/or inflated toll charges.
Four current and two former taxi drivers have pleaded guilty to felony charges. A seventh driver, identified as Ayman Abdalla, 51, of Elmhurst, is due back in court next month. He's accused of overcharging more than 100 passengers.
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DOI began its investigation into toll fraud in the city’s taxicab industry after receiving an allegation of misconduct regarding a taxicab driver and then investigated in partnership with the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
The investigation included analyzing driver information, GPS data, and trip data from TLC, and also included identifying suspicious toll charges, reviewing maps developed from the GPS records of the cabs driven by the drivers, creating maps for each suspicious trip, and examining each to see if the appropriate toll amount was charged.
The following six individuals pleaded guilty on Friday, November 19, 2021:
• MD ARIFUZZAMAN, 34, of Flushing was charged with overcharging approximately 620 customers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $4,539 in overcharges between July 4, 2015, and March 18, 2017.
• YEVGENY OSTROV, 60, of Brooklyn was charged with overcharging approximately 600 passengers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $2,151 in overcharges between July 1, 2015, and January 15, 2016. TLC revoked this defendant’s TLC license as a result of a matter unrelated to this fraud case.
• MANDEEP SINGH, 31, of Jamaica was charged with overcharging approximately 153 passengers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $1,350 in overcharges between October 24, 2015, and March 15, 2017.
• ANVERKERIMOV, 62, of Staten Island was charged with overcharging approximately 116 passengers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $1,270 in overcharges between approximately July 26, 2015, and February 7, 2017.
• MOATAZ ATTIA, 44, of Queens was charged with overcharging approximately 330 passengers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $1,256 in overcharges between July 4, 2015, and January 25, 2017.
• ALY EL-DOKSH, 48, of Bethpage was charged with overcharging approximately 242 passengers for non-existent tolls and/or inflating toll charges for trips with a toll, totaling approximately $1,076 in overcharges between approximately July 1, 2015, and March 17, 2017. This defendant failed to renew his TLC license, according to TLC.