BHS owner Dominic Chappell tried to pay for family holiday flights on the company travel budget just four months before its collapse, according to new evidence given to MPs.
A letter submitted by the retailer's chief executive Darren Topp said Mr Chappell "saw no distinction between the company's money and his own personal money" and that he "saw them as one and the same".
It said Mr Chappell's Retail Acquisitions Limited (RAL) vehicle, which bought BHS for £1, had taken £17m out of the business and that this - together with its failure to raise finance for the business - was to blame for its eventual collapse.
Mr Topp's claims - made in a letter to an inquiry by two parliamentary committees - add to his sharp criticism of Mr Chappell in front of MPs earlier this month.
BHS was sold to the former bankrupt by billionaire retailer Sir Philip Green last year. It collapsed into administration in April. In June it was announced that the business was being wound down after administrators failed to find a buyer - leaving 11,000 jobs likely to be lost.
Mr Topp's evidence said that months earlier, in December 2015, Mr Chappell had "attempted to buy a set of family holiday flights on the company travel budget".
It added: "This was spotted by Darren Topp and stopped immediately much to the annoyance of Chappell."
The letter also said that Mr Chappell sought to take his December 2015 salary early, ahead of departing on his family holiday to the Bahamas, and that this payment had been allowed on the basis of "hardship".
Mr Chappell responded to the claims in a statement saying that he had made a request for BHS to put flights on the company account as "an issue of logistics" and that the money was to be repaid, adding: "There was no intent whatsoever to have the company pay for my private travel."
He said the early payment of his December salary was "suggested by the BHS management" before he went away for Christmas.
Mr Chappell added: "At no stage have I ever used the company bank account as a private account for myself and all and every payment except two went through the normal BHS process and system."
He described Mr Topp's claims as "absolutely childish" as well as "pathetic and petty".
The collapse of BHS is being investigated by the Business, Innovations and Skills committee and the Work and Pensions committee.
Frank Field, chair of the Work and Pensions committee, said: "We are still elucidating the full story of the final collapse of BHS, but it happened under Dominic Chappell and RAL's stewardship.
"They should also account fully and properly for their decisions and actions, some of which appear quite extraordinary."
The letter comes as the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) - the "lifeboat" for failed retirement schemes - confirmed that it had appointed a second set of administrators, FRP, to oversee a winding down of BHS. Administrators at Duff & Phelps are currently overseeing the process.
It follows a Sky News report that the PPF had requested the move amid concerns about the complex web of ties connecting the company's former owners. The BHS pension deficit is now thought to be more than £600m.
Malcolm Weir, head of restructuring at the PPF, said: "This is an unusual step, but one we regard as appropriate given the circumstances of this administration."
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