A Russian Orthodox priest has crashed a car in Moscow reportedly bearing Maltese embassy number plates, but the Maltese authorities are insisting that the car never belonged to the Maltese diplomatic service.

The crash occurred at the end of last month but was reported in the Russian media yesterday.

The priest was apparently drunk when he crashed the BMW convertible. Efforts to remove the number plates were reportedly made soon after the crash.

The owner of a Volkswagen Touareg that was damaged as a result of the crash, refused an offer of compensation of 350,000 roubles by friends of the priest.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the car used to belong to a Russian man employed in the Maltese consulate. The car never belonged to the embassy and never had diplomatic number plates.

The employee had nothing to do with the incident and was elsewhere at the time, a ministry spokesman said.

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