Rotorua emergency housing and security boss Raymond ‘Tiny’ Deane has been slapped with a fine from a licensing authority and ordered not to work in security management.
Deane’s emergency housing charity Visions of a Helping Hand and security company Tigers Express Security Ltd, featured heavily in a 2022 Sunday exposé on emergency housing. Emergency housing clients said at the time they felt threatened and intimidated by Tigers Express guards, and Tigers Express staff claimed the company had been hiring gang members.
An investigation launched by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority (PSPLA) found Deane knowingly employed two security guards with gang affiliations for months, as well as unlicensed guards who continued to be employed after their applications for a certificate of approval were declined.
It also found that Deane did not hold the appropriate licence to run a security business and had violated government rules by running both a taxpayer-funded emergency housing charity (Visions of a Helping Hand) and the private security business which subcontracted to Visions.
In a penalty decision released today, PSPLA head Trish McConnell said that while Deane got into the emergency housing sector with good intentions it was “incomprehensible” that he decided to take on two fulltime roles as an emergency housing and security boss.
“It is also difficult to understand why Visions agreed for him to do this, particularly as the HUD [Ministry of Housing and Urban Development] contract specifically required a separation between the security work and the emergency housing and social work services” she said.
Consistently failed to comply
McConnell said Deane consistently failed to comply with his responsibilities as a security business owner and manager, saying there was no evidence he sought advice from security experts as he claimed.
When he was ordered by the PSPLA to sell the business or appoint independent managers last year, McConnell said Deane “failed to understand the clear guidelines provided” and didn’t complete basic business documentation, leading to the sale being postponed several times. The business has now been sold to Armourguard.
In her decision today, McConnell concluded that Deane is not suitable to be the managing director and sole officer of a security company, and the PSPLA has cancelled Tigers Express Security Limited’s company licence.
Tigers Express Security Limited and Deane have been fined $1750.00, and Deane has been ordered not to work in a security management or consultancy role until at least October 2025.
Deane said he does not intend to return to the security industry.
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