Rotorua’s Tiny Deane back as Visions of a Helping Hand Trust boss, gets more time to sell security business

Visions of a Helping Hand Trust chief executive officer Tiny Deane. Photo / Andrew Warner

Tiny Deane is back running Rotorua homeless and social service agency Visions of a Helping Hand Trust and has been granted an extension to sell his security business after a licensing authority found him guilty of misconduct.

Deane, also known as Raymond Dean, had until August 20 to sell his security business — an order made by the Private Security Personnel Licensing Authority in its June ruling.

The authority ruled Deane engaged two security guards — whom he knew were linked to gangs — without proper licences and let them keep working after their licence applications were declined.

It also found Deane had “deficiencies” in his management of security company Tigers Express Security Limited. He and Tigers Express were found to have breached the Private Security Personnel and Private Investigators Act 2010, and his “failures and misconduct” meant he was “not suitable to be the managing director and sole officer of a security company”.

The authority put off making a final decision on the appropriate penalty until after August 20 to allow Deane time to either rearrange, sell or contract out the security business currently run by Tigers Express.

It said it was likely to suspend or cancel the licence unless Deane could provide evidence he was no longer involved in managing its security work, among other conditions.

Deane took leave from his role as chief executive of Visions of a Helping Hand Trust and an interim chief executive officer, Sarah Isaacs, was appointed.

In a minute issued by Patricia McConnell from the authority dated Monday, she said Deane asked if the timeline could be extended until after October 1 because a contract to sell the business to a long-term security licence-holder was to go unconditional on September 1, with settlement scheduled for October 1.

She agreed to the extension, but said Tiger Express was to advise the authority by September 8 whether the sale had gone through.

If so, Deane must at that time provide the purchaser name and the name of the entity the purchaser had set up to run the business.

McConnell’s minute said an online conference would be held on October 3 at 9.30am to update the authority if the sale had settled and to make further submissions relating to Deane’s penalty.

Deane told the Rotorua Daily Post on Wednesday he went back to work on Monday but he had asked the authority to extend the deadline.

Deane said he would not disclose who the buyer was until after September 8.

The authority’s June decision noted it was a concern Deane was the sole company officer and manager of Tigers Express and also Visions’ chief executive.

“This is in conflict with [the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development’s] stated requirement for a clear separation between the social support services to clients and that of the security services,” the authority’s ruling said.

“It is incomprehensible given the pressures Mr Deane was under, with a more-than-fulltime job of being the chief executive of Visions, that he took on another fulltime role as managing director of a security company. This is particularly the case when the [ministry] contract specifically required a separation between the security work and the emergency housing and social work services,” the ruling said.

Deane said on Wednesday it was his decision to step down as Visions’ boss while the sale of the security company was sorted.

“It was my choice to stand down as CEO, even though the one in question was Visions’ security. I started back at work on Monday this week, and I must say it was hard to go back to work when you have spent so much time off twiddling your thumbs.”

He said he was involved in the security business in name only and always employed someone else to run it.

“I had never had any input into Tiger security at all. I was just the owner.”

Deane declined to comment further on the authority’s June decision.

Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.