I didn’t sell Warisan to Shafie for RM500,000, says original founder
The former president, denying a report that the original Warisan was sold to Shafie, says no money was involved in the takeover and that he is considering suing those behind the report.
KOTA KINABALU: Fred Gabriel, the former president of Parti Pembangunan Warisan Sabah, which was re-registered as Parti Warisan Sabah, today dismissed allegations that he had sold the party to Shafie Apdal for RM500,000.
Responding to an article in news portal SabahKini2, Gabriel told FMT that there had been no exchange of money involved in the takeover of the party last year.
“Those are lies. I am still alive and still fighting together with Warisan. Who created this story in the first place? I will sue those who cooked up this rubbish,” he said.
Gabriel is currently the co-coordinator for Warisan in the Papar constituency.
Saying he had no idea where the news portal had obtained the information, Gabriel added that nobody from the portal had contacted him to verify the information.
According to the report, Warisan might be de-registered for breaching several articles of the party’s constitution, including failure to hold the annual general meeting, creation of its youth wing known as Wira Warisan, postponing its general meeting and appointing its president and committee members without going through a general meeting.
Parti Pembangunan Warisan Sabah was approved in 2013, and was led by Gabriel, a former candidate for the Pantai Manis state seat.
The report alleged that Gabriel and some of the committee members sold their party in October last year to Shafie for RM500,000 with RM50,000 as deposit.
It claimed that one of the committee members threatened to go to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) if the takeover fee was not fully paid.
According to the report, the unnamed individual had also claimed that former committee members of Parti Pembangunan Warisan Sabah were currently negotiating with Shafie to get the money.
The report quoted Gabriel as having complained that the remaining RM450,000 was still due.
Gabriel, who is now the co-coordinator of Warisan in the Papar constituency, said: “That allegation is outrageous. My struggle in Warisan even to this day is never because of money. Not a single cent was given to me or to the committee members.
“Our struggle is not because we are paid. We fight for the future and to say that we demand money is insulting to our dignity.”
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram
Gabriel said, for the moment, he and the party were awaiting word from their lawyer and that Warisan secretary-general Loretto Padua Jr would later advise them on what to do.