“Due to customs-related issues, the deadline for cases involving about 7,123 tax-evasion vehicles will have to be postponed,” Justice Minister General Paiboon Koomchaya said yesterday, after a meeting with relevant authorities.

Among the vehicles is the Mercedes-Benz owned by the acting supreme patriarch, Somdet Chuang.

To date, the legal team of the senior monk has maintained that Somdet Chuang is innocent as he simply received the vehicle from a donor without knowing if the vehicle’s tax was paid or not.

Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director general Pol Colonel Paisit Wongmuang said the Excise Department had already assessed the tax and fine involving the Mercedes-Benz.

“We will wait for the information to arrive officially. After that, we will interview excise officials for more information,” he said. He added that other people involved in the case could be summoned.

The DSI has already announced that the Mercedes registered in the name of Somdet Chuang was illegal.