Montana AG investigating Greg Mortenson's Central Asia Institute: misuse of charitable funds

[Hannah Bell]

The Montana attorney general's inquiry into Greg Mortenson and the Bozeman-based Central Asia Institute could resolve whether they have done nothing wrong and spent all funds appropriately, or whether Mortenson benefited excessively and must repay potentially millions of dollars.

The Central Asia Institute issued a statement Wednesday that, "We intend to cooperate fully with the attorney general and look forward to demonstrating how our supporters' donations have been used to further our mission of education, especially for girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan."

The statement, from Anne Beyersdorfer, temporary CAI director while Mortenson is in the hospital with a heart ailment, said CAI's goal is "full transparency." CAI has posted on its website (www.ikat.org) its financial reports to the IRS for every year since 1996, she wrote.

Misuse of charitable funds is one of the major allegations raised in the past few days by a "60 Minutes" investigation and by Jon Krakauer, author of "Into Thin Air," who wrote a highly critical online article about Mortenson entitled "Three Cups of Deceit." The reports also alleged that Mortenson lied in his best-selling memoirs "Three Cups of Tea" and "Stones Into Schools" and that, while many of his schools worked well, some don't exist, have been abandoned or become empty "ghost schools."

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_6680658e-6baa-11e0-8083-001cc4c002e0.html


~$30K for a one-day personal appearance + bodyguards. hmm.