This undated photo shows a McDonald's outlet. Korea Times file

A former official of McDonald's Korea and two others were acquitted Friday on charges of lying about the amount of tainted patties in its inventory in an attempt to avoid administrative measures.

An appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court reversed an earlier conviction of a 5 million-won ($4,000) fine handed down to the former executive director of the global fast food giant, surnamed Kim.

In the same ruling, two former officials of a burger patty supplier for McDonald's Korea were also acquitted of their charges.

The three were charged with obstructing an official duty of a public officer by lying that there weren't any leftover beef patties after some patties were found to have contained toxins in June 2016. There were more than 45 million tainted beef patties in the inventory at the time.

Their indictments came after a group of local consumers filed complaints with the prosecution, claiming they or their families suffered from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after eating McDonald's burgers served with undercooked patties. (Yonhap)