Saturday, April 7, 2012

HOW DO WE TRUST CHARITABLE ORGANSATIONS


The author of Three Cups of Tea has agreed to repay $1m (£631,000) to his charity after an inquiry found he mis-spent its money.

Greg Mortenson will no longer be the executive director of the Central Asia Institute (CAI), but will still draw a salary from the organisation.

His best-selling 2006 book describes how he was rescued and nursed to health in a remote Pakistani village after a failed climb in 1993 of the K2 mountain.

The 2009 Nobel nominee wrote that the villagers inspired him to build schools in the region, spawning his charity's mission.

The book was hugely successful and donations poured in to the CAI, including $100,000 from President Barack Obama's $1.4m Nobel Peace Prize.

But a report by CBS News' 60 Minutes programme last year alleged that Mortenson had fabricated parts of his work and was benefitting financially from his charity.

The Montana-based organisation became the focus of a year-long investigation by the state attorney general.

His inquiry found Mortenson had spent $4m of the charity's money to buy copies of his books, gaining royalties without paying any of them to the CAI, as promised.

The organisation also spent more than $2m on Mortenson's charter flights to speaking engagements, even when the event host paid his travel fees.

Mortenson and his family also charged personal items to the charity amounting to $75,276 that included brand-name clothing, luxury accommodation and holidays, found the report.

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