Former rich-listed property developer Jamie Peters admits his extravagance during his bankruptcy period has "aggravated" regulators, but he believes the $150,000 given to him by an associate was only just enough for him to survive.



Peters said in the High Court in Auckland today that the $18,000 diamond engagement ring he bought for his wife and the six-week around-the-world trip they took together "in hindsight" had "aggravated the official assignee and it was a mistake".



Peters is undergoing a "public examination" hearing after the official assignee applied to challenge his automatic discharge from three years of bankruptcy.



He was adjudicated bankrupt in October 2009 with debts of more than $180 million, but has been accused of having money "salted away".



The $150,000 in assistance was paid by Michael Allan Skates incrementally into a bank account held by Peters' close friend Brenda Dixon, who then provided Peters with an eftpos card that he used between November 2009 and October 2011.



Peters has admitted that the money and the access to the bank account was not declared to the official assignee at the time.



Peters and Skates have told the official assignee that Skates did not expect the $150,000 to be repaid.



Even with the $150,000 Peters was using to pay expenses and mortgage bills over two years, he said "it was pretty hard to survive on that kind of money".



"It's not a huge salary, it's not extravagance ... purchasing the ring was extravagance ... but those living costs are merely living costs and quite frankly we barely survived on that." He said the overseas travel was paid for by his wife, Rebecca Burton, using money provided to her by Skates.



Asked by official assignee lawyer Gareth Neil whether the $80,000 not spent on mortgage payments was "generally eroded with flippant expenses", Peters said all he was doing was surviving.



"Whether it was spent at Nosh [Gourmet Food Market] or Matakana Liquor, the fact is over that period of time I didn't spend a huge amount of money. All I was doing was surviving," he said.



"My mistake was not disclosing to you that Michael Skates was helping me.



"I was not trying to mislead the OA. I was merely trying to protect Michael from further exposure to my ex-wife."



Peters and his former wife were embroiled in a Family Court dispute during which Peters' assets were frozen, including his bank accounts, which was why, he said, he arranged for access to Skates' money through Dixon's account.



Peters also swore under oath in affidavits for the Family Court proceedings in June 2010 that he had no funds. He swore that he "had nothing to hide".



He admitted in court today that that statement was factually incorrect and misleading.



He also accepted that during interviews with the official assignee he was not forthcoming with information about his use of Dixon's bank account, but he had been accurate in saying he did not have "control" of a bank account.



Peters was one of the country's highest flying property developers during the last property boom, with his empire once including the sprawling Gulf Harbour housing development north of Auckland, a 2.8-hectare commercial development site behind Victoria Park Market and several high-rise Auckland office buildings.



He once led a fast-paced lifestyle, with a South Island high-country hunting lodge and his own motor-racing team.



The hearing is continuing.