“If it was his money, he has to explain how he earned it,” the source said. “If the money came from temple funds, he risks charges of embezzlement.”

The DSI has described the classic car as “illegal” over suspicious activities involving its import, assembly, excise-tax payment and registration.

Meanwhile, the owners of a small business have complained that its name was falsely implicated in the illegal purchase of the car through an apparently fake receipt.

“That receipt is a fake,” HTY Auto Parts Limited partnership owner Weerachai Inprasert told the DSI yesterday. The DSI says it is clear that the classic car was illegal.

But it remained unclear as to whether acting Supreme Patriarch Somdej Phra Maha Ratcha-mangalacharn (Somdej Chuang) should be held responsible for that offence.

Somdej Chuang’s secretary Phra Maha Satsanamunee, the assistant abbot of Wat Paknam, has said he paid Bt4 million to Wicharn Garage for the vehicle but knew nothing about the process the garage used to deliver it.

Weerachai said yesterday his business did not play any role in the assembly of the classic vehicle and he did not know anyone or other entities implicated in the case.

The receipt, which Weerachai described as fake, states that NP Garage hired HTY Auto Parts to assemble the vehicle for Bt50,000 including value-added tax.

“We only import motorcycle parts,” Weerachai said.

Last week, NP Garage owner Kanjana Makmuan also complained to the DSI that her firm’s documents were falsely used to register the car.