Kang Seung-won, a 34-year-old chef known on Netflix’s survival reality show Black and White Chef: The Culinary Class War as the alias “Triple Star,” has spoken out about the police’s no-indictment ruling in the embezzlement allegations surrounding him. In a post on his social media on the 19th, he said, “I received the non-indictment notification from the Seoul Gangnam Police Station in September last year, and the prosecution has recently confirmed no charges.” He added that he had also secured counter-evidence through phone forensics, but chose to stay silent amid widespread but unfounded rumors because he did not want to affect his ex-wife’s new life. He did, however, warn that he would pursue legal action against malicious online posts that are baseless.

He went on to thank everyone who had supported him over the past year, saying he would strive to become a better chef, building on the support and love he gained through Black and White Chef and the lessons learned from the yearlong legal dispute.

The controversy began in November last year when his ex-wife, identified as A, accused him of embezzling funds from their business. She claimed Kang used about 24 million won of the restaurant’s profits to settle his father’s debts and filed a police investigation via the government’s online petition system. The news spread quickly online, and although Kang finished third on the show, the backlash led him to temporarily suspend all public activities.

Earlier this month, the police announced there was insufficient evidence to support the embezzlement claim, stating that there was no indication he had secretly diverted funds or acted with the intent to do so. As a result, Kang has been cleared of the allegations after roughly a year.