Metro

Falling a‘part’: Fed alert on bad cab fix

‘BRAKE’ IT UP: Federal agents raid a warehouse yesterday in Long Island City, Queens, in the hunt for bogus taxi parts allegedly distributed by a multistate counterfeiting ring. (
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As if riding in a taxi isn’t scary enough.

Thousands of yellow cabs were outfitted with knockoff parts — including brake pads, suspension springs and antilock braking sensors — that were sold by a multistate counterfeit ring, officials said yesterday.

The shoddy goods were packaged to look like they were manufactured by Ford, General Motors and Federal-Mogul, then resold at exorbitant prices to garages that specialized in taxi repairs, the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office said.

There could be “thousands” of taxis tooling around the city with the bad parts, a law-enforcement source said.

“The counterfeits have been installed on taxis and are out there,” said another source.

So many bogus parts — some made in China — are on the roads that it’s unlikely officials will be able to trace them all, a law-enforcement source said.

Three men were arrested for taking part in the scam, the feds said.

The FBI — which conducted a more than three- year probe into the ring — yesterday raided the Astoria, Queens, warehouse of E & Y Distributors, a huge trader of taxi parts.

No one from E & Y was arrested, the source said.

“Employees at the warehouses are cooperating,” said the source. “Some of them said, ‘We know what’s been going on. We’ll tell you whatever you want to know.’ ”

Although the scam primarily targeted taxis, some private-car owners ended up with the bogus goods installed in their vehicles, officials said.

Auto parts typically go through a stringent inspection process, but it’s unclear what, if any, safety protocols were used on the knockoffs, said the source.

City officials insisted the public shouldn’t be fearful.

“The public may remain confident in the safety of New York City taxicabs,” said Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky.

Yassky — whose agency regulates the city’s more than 13,000 yellow cabs — said taxis must undergo “frequent and exhaustive inspections” three times a year.

Any malfunctioning parts would likely turn up in those inspections.

Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara likened the scam to buying an imitation pricy bag sold as the real deal.

“These defendants sold the automobile-replacement parts equivalent of designer knockoffs, but represented to their unsuspecting customers that they were buying the ‘name brand,’” he said.

Two of the alleged scammers — Shashi Malhotra and Fadi Kilani — operated separate auto-repair shops in Paterson, NJ.

The third alleged ring member, Richard DiNinni, owned his business in Easton, Penn., said the feds.

Jim Lenihan, a lawyer for Kilani, said his client was implicated in a similar case seven years ago in Brooklyn but never charged.

“He was never charged because it never happened. And Ford … never sued my guy because they knew it to be true,” said Jim Lenihan.

The feds said the scam unraveled when some eagle-eyed garage workers noticed that the parts seemed generic, despite bearing the manufacturers’ packaging. The garage called Ford, which tipped off the FBI.