Massimo Cellino, the president of Italian Serie A football side Cagliari, who is set to take control of English club Leeds United, was fined $967,000 by an Italian court for failing to pay import duty on a yacht.
Italian news agency ANSA reported the Cagliari court also ordered the confiscation of the boat.
Cellino, 57, has a previous criminal conviction in Italy for fraud and was banned for four months last year by the Italian Football Federation after Cagliari sold tickets for a match supposed to be played behind closed doors.
The businessman's family company Eleonora Sport Limited bought a 75 percent stake in Championship (second tier) side Leeds last month but the governing Football League has yet to sanction the take-over.
Leeds supporters have expressed concern about the take-over in the light of Cellino's previous conviction.