The Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's verdict of "not guilty" for former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee.

Lee was indicted in April of last year on charges of illegal transfer of wealth and managerial control of the group to his only son, Jae-yong.

The ruling comes after the top court overruled a high court's guilty verdict for two other former Samsung executives. Hur Tae-hak and Park Ro-bin were charged with helping Lee's son buy convertible bonds at a below-market price in 1996 which were issued by Everland amusement park, the Samsung Group's de facto holding company.