South Korea's top court upheld on Thursday a not-guilty verdict for the chairman of Samsung Electronics Jay Y. Lee, backing two lower court rulings clearing him of accounting fraud and stock manipulation related to an $8 billion merger in 2015, Reuters reported.

The Supreme Court's verdict permanently removes a long-running legal distraction for Lee as Samsung plays catch-up in a global race to develop cutting-edge AI chips.

The Supreme Court upheld an appeals court's ruling dismissing all the charges in the case involving the merger a decade ago between two Samsung affiliates, Samsung C&T (028260.KS), opens new tab and Cheil Industries, which prosecutors said was designed to cement Lee's control of the tech giant.

A lower court last year had also cleared Lee of the charges, according to Reuters.