Metro

Fugitive taxi cheat busted

The poster boy for New York’s massive cab-rate overcharging scam — whose ruse alerted authorities to the biggest taxi-cheating ring in history — was hauled into custody yesterday, nabbed after months on the lam in the Midwest.

Meter-cheater Wasim Cheema, 23, covered his face as he was led into Manhattan Supreme Court in handcuffs. He is set to be arraigned today on charges of scheming to defraud more than 2,500 passengers of $11,690.

Cheema fled Brooklyn for Kansas City last year after his hack license was yanked for his participation in a widespread, $1.1 million fare-cheating ring.

Dozens of other drivers were caught bilking passengers by secretly switching their meters to the more expensive suburban rates, even though the rides took place within city limits.

Cheema became the public face of the massive swindle after anesthesiologist Mitchell Lee dropped a dime to the TLC in August 2009 after he was cheated. That complaint, first reported by The Post, set off the far-reaching probe, in which 45 cabbies have pleaded guilty so far.