Taito Phillip Field said today he regretted not keeping a proper record of accounts.
The former MP was resuming his evidence in the High Court at Auckland on bribery and corruption charges.
He has denied 12 charges of getting Thai nationals to carry out work on his properties, in exchange for help on immigration issues.
He also denied 23 charges of attempting to obstruct or pervert the course of justice during an inquiry into the corruption allegations held by Noel Ingram QC and to a subsequent police inquiry.
The court was told Thai Sompong Srikaew and his wife Phisimai Phothisarn were the first people to approach Field for help in 2002, as they were due to be removed from New Zealand.
Field said he offered them one of his Auckland rental properties, but he did not charge them to stay there.
They offered to make some improvements to the house.
Field said he made it clear to them they should give him the bills for any repair work so he could pay for it.
Paul Davison QC, defending Field, asked him about keeping a record of his accounts.
"My record keeping was not very good at all, regrettably.
"You regret a lot of things in hindsight. My time in Auckland was limited to Mondays and Fridays, and I was pretty busy. My mind was not focused on this.
"There were several cheques and payments made, both to the plasterers and the painters. I thought if there was anything outstanding they would have brought me a bill."
Mr Davison said Thai painter Phong Phat Chaikhunpol gave evidence that he did not want to charge Field because he had helped him get a work permit.
"It surprises me that he would say that, because we had a difficulty with language, and we did not have a very fluent dialogue," Field said.
"Mr Chaikhunpol may have tried to say something to that effect, but it would be have been difficult with his poor English and my poor understanding of Thai."
Mr Davison asked Field what the arrangement was with Mr Srikaew and his wife about payments for any work they carried out to his Auckland rental property.
"I expected that, given that I had an arrangement with them, they would explain anything outstanding," Field replied.
"I'm not clear in my mind at what point they would turn up with a bill. I was just quite busy at the time and things started to drift from where we were with that arrangement."
Mr Davison asked Field about a meeting with Mr Chaikhunpol after the work was carried out on the house.
"I don't recall thanking him for not charging me," Field said.
"I don't think I would have accepted anything on that basis. His English was very poor, and I couldn't communicate with him in a language he would understand.
"At that time, there was very little communication because of the language barrier. I had to use sign language and paraphrase things to get my message across."
Field was expelled from the Labour Party in 2007, continuing to represent Mangere as an independent MP. He lost his seat at last year's election.
The trial continues next week
