A Seoul court has issued a pretrial detention warrant for the chief investment officer of tech giant Kakao, Bae Jae-hyun, on suspicions of stock manipulation.

The Seoul Western District Court issued the warrant on Thursday, citing a risk of flight and the possible destruction of critical evidence.

However, the court rejected requests for pretrial detention warrants for two other Kakao officials charged with investment duties, saying there is no need.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service(FSS), Bae and other two Kakao officials are suspected of manipulating the stock price of SM Entertainment by injecting approximately 240 billion Korean won, or around 177 million U.S. dollars, to inflate the price above the public offer price by its rival, Hybe Corporation, in an acquisition war.

Bae and the two officials are also suspected of failing to inform financial authorities of the possession of such a large amount of stocks in the process of acquiring the SM shares.

The FSS launched investigations after Hybe filed a petition for a probe into the case with the agency in February.