The funds related to a claim of “unauthorised expenses incurred by or on the behalf of Mr Hopkins as CEO of the company and the repayment of an outstanding loan which is due and payable”.

The loan was alleged to be for about $1.4 million and the expenses were about $1 million.

“The claim resulted from the findings of an investigation by leading forensic accounting firm McGrath Nicol of a number of whistleblower complaints made with respect to the actions of Mr Hopkins while he was a senior executive of the company,” AMA said in a statement to the ASX.

The case is the next step in a bitterly fought battle between the board and Hopkins, who has previously thrown his own allegations at the company.

Hopkins left the company in January disputing the allegations and made his own allegations about payments made to a company owned by one of the AMA directors Simon Moore.