Metro

First rip-off cabbies fine-ally off the streets

These cabbies have been hacked down to size.

The first batch of taxi drivers accused of charging unsuspecting passengers the double-fare suburban rate while inside city limits have been found guilty by city administrative-law judges, officials said yesterday.

Six cabbies were nailed in the first round of cases handled since the “Rate 4” scam came to light in March.

Each of the drivers was fined $850, and their licenses were revoked.

“We are pleased that the judges agreed with our assessment of the seriousness of their actions and recommended the maximum penalty,” said Allan Fromberg, a Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman.

Michael John was the greediest of the convicted hacks, officials said. He ripped off riders 570 times between Sept. 6, 2008, and Feb. 27, 2010, one judge found.

The other drivers pulled off the ruse 492, 330, 315, 231 and 221 times.

Their cases were decided first because they were among those who failed to show for their hearings, although the TLC still had to present evidence from GPS systems that showed they had snookered riders.

About 110 cabbies have already voluntarily surrendered their licenses after being implicated in the scandal. It’s up to the TLC to determine when, if at all, they can operate a yellow cab again.

TLC officials said there are 545 hacks who pulled off the scam between 50 and 499 times — and 88 who did it more than 500 times.

tom.namako@nypost.com