A Thai tiler told a jury he was asked by Taito Phillip Field not to tell police about work he was doing on his house in Samoa in exchange for a work permit.
Sunan Siriwan, who was giving evidence at the High Court in Auckland today, said he did not tell the truth because he felt sorry for Field, a former Labour MP.
He said he was worried that if he told the truth there would be nobody to help him get back to New Zealand.
Field faces 12 bribery and corruption charges alleging he allowed several Thai nationals whom he was helping with immigration issues to work on seven of his properties for little payment, other than the costs of materials, between November 2002 and October 2005.
He also faces 23 charges alleging he attempted 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.
Mr Siriwan said he came to New Zealand from Thailand on January 17, 1997. He told the court he had lived illegally in New Zealand for five years after arriving on a three-month visitors permit.
He lived in Glen Eden and started work as a tiler.
Crown prosecutor David Johnstone showed Mr Siriwan a written document containing his interview with a New Zealand lawyer on November 17 and November 18, 2005, about his trip to Samoa to work for Field.
"Most of the things I said were untrue. I told lies because I was afraid as I was living somewhere else which was not my home.
"I was told that Taito would give me a new permit to stay in New Zealand," Mr Siriwan said.
Mr Siriwan said he was visited by police while he was staying at Field's daughter's house in Samoa. His wife and three-year-old son, Henry, were also in Samoa with him.
"Taito told me that New Zealand police were coming over. He told me not to tell the police that I was there to do the tiling work at his property," Mr Siriwan said.
Field travelled to Samoa and, when he arrived, gave Mr Siriwan 1000 Samoan tala (about $NZ550), he said. Previously he had received only 100 tala for expenses despite working for Field "for a long time".
However, when Field saw a local newspaper article quoting Mr Siriwan he " threw the newspaper on the floor and said he and his family would not help me any more and then he said goodbye".
The two had not spoken since.
Mr Siriwan was told to leave Samoa within 24 hours.
He flew to Thailand but returned to New Zealand to give evidence at a depositions hearing in Manukau District Court last year.
Defence counsel Paul Davison, QC, asked Mr Siriwan if he was desperate to stay in New Zealand. "Yes," he replied.
"I was cheated and I was promised that I would get a 12-month work permit by someone in Thailand before I came to New Zealand," Mr Siriwan said.
He told the court he pledged his house in Thailand to the bank so he could pay for the permit, and he still owed money on it.
Mr Davison asked Mr Siriwan about his application for refugee status.
"I was tricked into giving my information by my friend, Som Si. He took my photograph from his own album and he retrieved my passport details," Mr Siriwan said.
Field was expelled from the Labour Party in 2007, continuing to represent Mangere as an independent MP.
The trial is in its tenth week of a scheduled 12 weeks.
