Nearly £500,000 will be paid out for a city trader’s legal costs after he was cleared of conning a global company out of £1.5m.

Evgeny Tikhonov, from Watermill Way, Wimbledon, was found not guilty by Croydon Crown Court of charging his employer Shell for bogus commissions while doing haulage deals in Russia.

On February 9, the court found the 36-year-old innocent of committing fraud over 18 months and let him off the hook for his legal costs of £470,000.

Mr Tikhonov, who joined Shell in 2004, denied he had come to a secret arrangement with Russian freight company Sovfracht to overcharge Shell by a tiny percentage for each metric tonne of oil sold.

During a three-month trial, the court had heard how Sovfracht director, Evgeny Nenashev, became suspicious of Mr Tikhonov’s dealings with Shell and had secretly recorded a conversation with him on his mobile phone.

Speaking to the Wimbledon Guardian, Mr Tikhonov, said an internal investigation by the oil giant had found no record of the claims.

He said: “I am grateful to my family and friends who supported me through this difficult time.

"I am pleased with the fairness of UK legal system and with attitude of London police.”

He added he would take legal action in a “multimillion pound claim” against Sovfracht for bringing the charges against him.

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