Mortenson has been criticized by writers such as
Peter Hessler and
Jon Krakauer for financial mismanagement of his charity, for "dodging accountability" and for writing a book Krakauer described as "riddled with lies". In April 2011,
60 Minutes and author Jon Krakauer accused Mortenson of fabrication in his non-fiction books and of financial improprieties at his charity
Central Asia Institute. After a one-year investigation,
Montana Attorney General
Steve Bullock reached a settlement with Mortenson in which he agreed not to file criminal charges but sought restitution for book royalties, speaking and travel fees, promotional costs, and inappropriate personal bills that Mortenson charged to the CAI. The reports stated, “Despite policies that committed him to do so, Mortenson failed to make contributions to CAI equal to the royalties he earned on the books the organization purchased. Nor did he and CAl devise an equitable way to split the costs to advertise and promote the book, which was required by his 2008 employment agreement. Mortenson also accepted travel fees from event sponsors at the same time that CAI was paying his travel costs. Moreover, he had significant lapses in judgment resulting in money donated to CAI being spent on personal items such as charter flights for family vacations, clothing and internet downloads.” Under the terms of a settlement with Bullock, Mortenson agreed to reinstate $1 million to the charity, which included credits for repayments already made.
60 Minutes and Jon Krakauer On the April 17, 2011, broadcast of
CBS News'
60 Minutes, correspondent
Steve Kroft alleged inaccuracies in Mortenson's books
Three Cups of Tea and its sequel
Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as financial improprieties in the operation of the
Central Asia Institute. • Among the schools that Central Asia Institute claimed to have established, some were never built, some were abandoned, some were being used for other purposes, and others were not supported by CAI after they were built. • The amount of money Central Asia Institute was spending to cover Mortenson's promotional and travel expenses was excessive. Mortenson refused to talk to Steve Kroft, and reportedly the CAI staff requested that the hotel hosting the
60 Minutes crew asked them to leave the facility. Mortenson also canceled the speaking engagement that was scheduled that afternoon in the Atlanta convention facility. In an April 2011
Outside magazine interview, Greg Mortenson insisted that Krakauer contacted him only once and inaccurately claimed that he had been trying to get hold of him for some time. He claimed that although he arranged to meet with Krakauer, the interview was eventually cancelled "once I realized how deep and dirty this whole thing was". However, writing for
Outside Online, Grayson Schaffer investigated Mortenson's claims regarding Korphe and found them likely spurious, as there was no plausible way for Mortenson to have ended up in Korphe while descending K2 in the route he claimed. Additionally, Schaffer concludes that there is no evidence that Mortenson was actually an accomplished Himalayan climber, even though he claimed to have climbed six Himalayan peaks.
Jon Krakauer, a former financial supporter of CAI, questioned Mortenson's accounts of his exploits independently and was interviewed for the
60 Minutes segment mentioned above. The day after the broadcast, Krakauer released his own allegations in a lengthy online article,
Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way. Krakauer explored financial improprieties at CAI in great detail, reporting that a former board treasurer had left the organization because "Greg regards CAI as his personal ATM," routinely charged personal expenses to the organization, and rarely provided any receipts or documentation. He apologized and acknowledged that he had let a lot of people down, saying: "I failed in many ways, and it's an important lesson."
Lawsuits In May 2011,
Jean Price and
Michele Reinhart, along with Dan Donovan, a
Great Falls attorney, filed a class action lawsuit against Mortenson on behalf of readers, asking federal judge James Malloy in Missoula to place all proceeds from the purchases of Mortenson's books into a trust to be used for humanitarian purposes. Several named plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit after confessing they had never read the books. The lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice in federal court in May 2012. U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon chided the plaintiffs for presenting arguments that he called imprecise, flimsy, and speculative. An appeals suit was dropped by the 9th District Federal Circuit Court on October 10, 2013. On October 6, 2013, after a lengthy lawsuit filed by Central Asia Institute, Philadelphia Insurance Company was ordered by Magistrate Judge Jeremy Lynch to repay Central Asia Institute $1.2 million to pay for legal costs involved in the lawsuits and investigations. In May 2015, the Montana Attorney General stated that Central Asia Institute and Mortenson had completed the terms of a three-year compliance monitoring period, and CAI stated that the IRS had completed its examination of the nonprofit. The organization reported that it was having a return of donors and rise in contributions.
3000 Cups of Tea Jennifer Jordan and Jeff Rhoads rebutted the claims against Mortenson in their 2016 documentary
3000 Cups of Tea. In the film and through interviews Jordan argued that the accusations against Mortenson put forward by
60 Minutes and Jon Krakauer were largely not true and that both failed to do adequate research and source verification. Jordan said in 2014: "Yes, Greg is a bad manager and accountant, and he is the first to admit that, but he is also a tireless humanitarian with a crucially important mission." ==Recognition==