An appeals court on Thursday exonerated a provincial governor of bribery charges in a high-profile lobbying scandal involving a deceased businessman, overturning a lower court's decision to jail him.

The Seoul High Court found South Gyeongsang Gov. Hong Joon-pyo not guilty of receiving 100 million won ($87,943) from Sung Wan-jong, the former head of Kyungnam Corp., a local construction firm, ahead of a ruling party's leadership election in 2011.

In September, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Hong to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay 100 million won in forfeiture.

The appellate court said that it is difficult to vouch for the credibility of the statements by a person who allegedly delivered the illicit money to Hong upon request from Sung. His statements had been cited as key evidence to back up Hong's corruption charges.

The court also acquitted the man, surnamed Yoon, of his alleged involvement in the bribery case.

"To acknowledge (Hong's) conviction, Yoon's statements must prove to be credible beyond reasonable doubt," the court said in its ruling. "But part of his statements does not match objective facts."

The prosecution expressed its intention to bring the case to the Supreme Court, calling the ruling "unconvincing."

Hong, bandied about as a potential presidential contender, was indicted in July 2015 as part of the prosecution's probe into a suspected "bribery list" that Sung left behind before committing suicide in April 2015. (Yonhap)