Trafigura has settled a lawsuit brought by the Reuben brothers, the property and metals billionaires, over a cargo of nickel sold to them that was part of a high-profile fraud.

The Swiss commodities business is still dealing with the fallout of a scam after it announced last year that it had discovered there was no nickel in some of the cargos it had bought from companies linked to Prateek Gupta, an Indian businessman.

The company is still embroiled in a high-profile lawsuit against Gupta, who Trafigura alleges masterminded a huge fraud against the company.

The Reuben Brothers brought the case through their Hyphen Trading company, claiming that Trafigura had delivered fraudulent shipping documents when it sold them a cargo of nickel. Hyphen was seeking the $8.4 million it paid for the metal, plus costs and interest, according to reports by Bloomberg.

Trafigura confirmed the case had been settled, but declined to comment further.

A representative for the Reuben brothers declined to comment on the settlement.

The company has booked a $577 million charge related to the alleged fraud after discovering that a number of cargos bought from companies linked to Gupta did not contain high-quality, high-value nickel as expected.

Gupta has argued that several senior Trafigura employees “knew full well that most of the cargos did not contain LME-grade nickel and that the arrangement to agree contracts between the parties for the sale and purchase of LME-grade nickel but, in fact, to trade other materials was devised and proposed at Trafigura’s instigation”.

Trafigura has said in court documents that it was “duped into paying $630 million for the cargos on the false basis that they were cargos of nickel”. It also said that Gupta’s case — that Trafigura employees knew that it was paying hundreds of millions of dollars for worthless cargos — was not only an inadequate defence but was “commercially preposterous”.

Nickel is used primarily to make stainless steel, but it is also in growing demand for use in lithium-ion batteries, providing higher energy density and aiding storage capacity.