The Seoul Central District Court acquitted Samsung Electronics Company Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Monday of charges related to the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T Corp. Lee faced allegations of breach of trust, stock price manipulation and accounting fraud in a merger to consolidate his control over Samsung Group, South Korea’s largest conglomerate.

Prosecutors had accused Lee and other Samsung executives of manipulating the stock market to influence the merger in favor of Lee’s succession plans. This included inflating the value of Cheil Industries and devaluing Samsung C&T stocks. However, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove the prosecutors’ charges against Lee, including the accusation that the merger’s goal was to consolidate Lee’s control over the conglomerate.