I have always strongly denied all allegations made by USL," he said in a statement. He also took to Twitter to say that "allegations of fund diversion out of USL are baseless" and said "USL accounts were approved by top auditors, an eminent Board of Directors and shareholders." As fresh troubles emerged after Mr. Mallya agreed to sell to Diageo a controlling stake in his erstwhile flagship firm USL, the two got into a bitter boardroom battle, which they later sought to end with the $75 million pact in February 2016. SEBI's latest order came close on the heels of the CBI naming Mr. Mallya, Kingfisher Airlines and nine others in the charge sheet related to the 2015 loan default case. Auditor's role SEBI said it was also examining the settlement agreement between Mr. Mallya and Diageo as well as the role of auditors in the non–detection of diversion of funds from USL. In furtherance of this pact, Mr. Mallya resigned from his position as Chairman and Non–Executive Director of USL.