Former West Ham chairman Terry Brown is threatening to take legal action against the Premiership club, says BBC sports editor Mihir Bose.
Brown is furious after being sent a letter terminating the contract he signed when he sold the club.
"This is a result of the record fine that had been imposed upon the club because of the Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano transfer.
"Brown is now threatening to take legal action," Bose told Five Live Sport.
"West Ham hold him responsible for what they allege is a breach of trust as chairman.
"His contract allowed him to earn £1.5m until 31 May 2009, and it had all sorts of other privileges such as directors' box seats and the job of vice-president.
"That has all gone and he is furious and threatening to take legal action."
West Ham were fined £5.5m for a breach of transfer regulations following the transfers of Argentine duo Tevez and Mascherano last summer.
Brown was chairman of the London club until Eggert Magnusson's £85m takeover in November.
Brown's former managing director Paul Aldridge has already threatened legal action, saying his reputation has been "besmirched" by the inquiry into the transfers of Tevez and Mascherano.
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Aldridge was at the club when the pair were signed.
He says he was not called as a witness, invited to give a statement or notified in advance of allegations against him.
Aldridge said: "Naturally, my sympathies lie with the club I was chief executive of for 10 years in respect of what seems a very harsh sanction.
"However, my own personal and professional reputations have been besmirched. The findings accuse me of acting dishonestly and lying.
"This is hardly natural justice in my view. Until the publication of these findings, my integrity has never been questioned during my career.
"Accordingly, I have placed the matter in the hands of my lawyer who will be taking the matter further on my behalf."