Three Cups of Tea author pays $1m for misusing charity he set up

From The Guardian:

Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson has agreed to pay $1m (£630,000) to compensate his Montana-based charity, which he used to promote and pay for copies of his books, according to the state attorney general. The settlement between Mortenson, leaders of the Central Asia Institute (CAI) charity he founded and Montana officials allows it to continue educational work in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The agreement calls for a new board to run CAI, based on a finding that it failed to meet its responsibilities in handling the relationship between the charity and Mortenson. The case is another setback for an author and philanthropist once widely celebrated for his work.

Montana began investigating in April 2011 after a 60 Minutes report suggested Mortenson fabricated parts of his Three Cups of Tea and took benefits for himself from the charity. The Guardian interviewed people who disputed Mortenson's accounts of his dealings with them, including tribesmen who threatened to sue. Steve Bullock, the Montana attorney general, said CAI had spent nearly $4m since 2006 buying copies of Three Cups of Tea and a sequel, Stones Into Schools.

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