Greg Mortenson (born December 27, 1957) is an American professional speaker, writer, veteran, and former mountaineer. He is a co-founder and former executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute and the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace.[2][3] 
 
 Mortenson is the co-author of The New York Times Bestseller, Three Cups of Tea, which stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 220 weeks.[4] Three Cups of Tea has been published in 47 languages.[5][6] Mortenson is also the author of Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan.[7] 
 
 Mortenson was accused of financial irregularities in handling donations to the CAI and falsehoods in his books. In 2012, Mortenson repaid $1 million to the CAI after an inquiry by the Montana Attorney General, though no criminality was found. 
 
 Early life [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson was born in 1957 in St. Cloud, Minnesota. His parents, Irvin and Jerene, went with the Lutheran Church to Tanganyika (now Tanzania) in 1958 to be teachers in at a girls' school in the Usambara mountains. In 1961, Dempsey became a fundraiser and development director for the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center,[8] the first teaching hospital in Tanzania. Jerene was the founding principal of International School Moshi.[9] Spending his early childhood and adolescence in Tanzania, Mortenson learned to speak fluent Swahili.[9][10][11][12] 
 
 In the early 1970s, when he was 15 years old, Mortenson and his family left Tanzania and moved back to Minnesota. He attended Ramsey High School in Roseville, Minnesota, from 1973–75, where he graduated.[13] 
 
 After high school, Mortenson served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1975–77 and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.[14] Following his discharge, he attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, from 1977-79 on an athletic (football) scholarship.[15] 
 
 In 1978, Concordia College's football team won the NAIA Division III national championship with a 7-0 win over Findlay, Ohio.[16][17] Mortenson graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and an associate degree in nursing.[9][10][13] 
 
 Humanitarian work and career [ edit ] 
 
 Origins in K2 [ edit ] 
 
 K2 
 
 Mortenson describes the origins of his humanitarian work in his best-selling (but later discredited) book, Three Cups of Tea. He states he traveled to northern Pakistan in 1993 to climb the world's second-highest mountain, K2, as a memorial to his sister, Christa. After more than 70 days on the mountain located in the Karakoram range, Mortenson failed to reach the summit. Earlier, Mortenson and fellow climber, Scott Darsney, were also involved in a 75-hour life-saving rescue of another climber, Etienne Fine, which put them in a weakened state.[18] After the rescue, he descended the mountain and set out with a local Balti porter, Mouzafer Ali, to the nearest city.[citation needed] 
 
 According to the account in Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson stated he took a wrong turn on the trail and ended up in the small village of Korphe. Physically exhausted, ill, and alone at the time of his arrival there, Mortenson was cared for by some of Korphe's residents while he recovered.[19][20] As a gesture of gratitude to the community for their assistance to him, Mortenson said he would build a school for the village after he noticed local students attending school in an outdoor location and writing out their lessons in the dirt. Mortenson has since stated in a 2011 interview that the timing in the Korphe account in Three Cups of Tea is inaccurate and that the events actually took place over a longer period of time and during separate trips.[21][22] 
 
 Literacy in Central Asia [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson has written and spoken widely about the importance of education and literacy for girls worldwide. He has further stated that girls' education is the most important investment all countries can make to create stability, bring socio-economic reform, decrease infant mortality and population explosion, as well as improving health, hygiene, and sanitation standards.[23] His view is that "fighting terrorism" perpetuates a cycle of violence where there should instead be a global priority to "promote peace" through education and literacy, with an emphasis on educating girls.[citation needed] 
 
 Three Cups of Tea describes his travels in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province including his escape from a 2003 firefight between Afghan opium warlords, how he was subject to two fatwās by conservative Islamist clerics for educating girls, and receiving hate mail and threats from fellow Americans for helping educate Muslim children.[24][25] 
 
 According to op-ed columnist and friend of Mortenson's, Nicholas D. Kristof,[26] the schools built by CAI have local support and have been able to avoid retribution by the Taliban and other groups opposed to girls' education because of community "buy-in", which involves getting villages to donate land, subsidized or free labor ("sweat equity"), wood and resources.[citation needed] 
 
 As of 2014, CAI reports it has established or significantly supported over 300 projects, including 191 schools,[27] in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.[28] 
 
 Central Asia Institute [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson with children in Pakistan in 2006 
 
 After experiencing frustration in his efforts to raise money for the school, Mortenson convinced Silicon Valley computer pioneer Jean Hoerni to fund the building of the Korphe school.[29] 
 
 Hoerni, who was critically ill at the time, formed the Central Asia Institute so that he and others could make tax-exempt donations to support Mortenson's work,[30] and Mortenson became its first executive director. The mission of the non-profit organization is to promote education and literacy, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.[31][32] 
 
 From 2006 through 2011, Greg Mortenson promoted his book as well as fundraising and promoting girls' education through public speaking events at schools throughout the United States. Travel expenses for his speaking engagements were paid for by Central Asia Institute through the end of 2010.[33] Mortenson personally kept the money received in exchange for his service as a public speaker as well as royalties from the sale of his book.[33] In 2009, the total cost of his book promotion, fundraising, and awareness-building for girls education paid for by CAI amounted to $4.6 million.[34] 
 
 In April 2012, after a year long investigation by the Montana attorney general, Mortenson agreed to repay $1 million to the CAI.[35] The Montana inquiry had found that he had misspent over $6 million of the organization's money, although no criminality was found. Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock said: "Mr Mortenson may not have intentionally deceived the board or his employees, but his disregard for and attitude about basic record-keeping and accounting for his activities essentially had the same effect."[36] 
 
 Bullock also wrote in the report that "CAI's mission is worthwhile and important," and "Its accomplishments, driven by the vision and dedication of Mortenson, are significant – as even their harshest critics acknowledge."[37] 
 
 Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Mortenson was required to resign as executive director and could no longer serve as a voting member of CAI's board.[38] However, he was allowed to remain with CAI as an employee.[39] 
 
 Books [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson and David Oliver Relin are co-authors of the New York Times bestselling book Three Cups of Tea.[40] Listen to the Wind, a 32-page book Young Reader's version of Three Cups of Tea for ages 4–8, was written by Greg Mortenson and illustrated by Susan Roth.[41] It was a New York Times bestseller for 97 weeks.[42] As detailed in a New York Times article, Relin "suffered emotionally and financially as basic facts in the book were called into question" and ultimately committed suicide on November 15, 2012.[43] In 2009, Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan was written by Greg Mortenson as a sequel to Three Cups of Tea.[44] 
 
 Controversies [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson has been criticized by writers such as Peter Hessler and Jon Krakauer for financial mismanagement of his charity,[45] for "dodging accountability" and for writing a book Krakauer described as "riddled with lies".[46] 
 
 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.[47] After a one-year investigation, Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock did not file criminal charges. Bullock sought restitution for book royalties, speaking and travel fees, promotional costs, and inappropriate personal bills Mortenson charged to the CAI. Mortenson was ordered to reinstate $1 million to the charity, which included credits for repayments already made.[48] In October 2013, Mortenson completed the repayments to CAI, fulfilling the terms of the 2012 settlement with Bullock.[49] 
 
 60 Minutes and Jon Krakauer [ edit ] 
 
 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.[47] 
 
 60 Minutes made the following allegations:[50] 
 
 The story recounted in Three Cups of Tea about Mortenson getting lost and separated on the way down from K2 did not occur. [50] 
 
 about Mortenson getting lost and separated on the way down from K2 did not occur. The story recounted in Stones into Schools about Mortenson's capture by the Taliban did not occur. In fact, he was shown great respect and hospitality, consistent with the Pashtunwali values of his hosts. [51] 
 
 about Mortenson's capture by the Taliban did not occur. In fact, he was shown great respect and hospitality, consistent with the Pashtunwali values of his hosts. 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. [50] 
 
 The amount of money Central Asia Institute was spending to cover Mortenson's promotional and travel expenses was excessive.[50] 
 
 60 Minutes asked Mortenson for an interview prior to their broadcast. Mortenson did not respond to their requests; however, he answered their questions in writing.[50][52] Mortenson refused to talk to Steve Kroft and, reportedly, the CAI staff requested that the hotel hosting the 60 Minutes crew ask them to leave the facility. Mortenson also canceled the speaking engagement that was scheduled that afternoon in the Atlanta convention facility.[53] 
 
 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 a hold of him for some time. He claimed although he arranged to meet with Krakauer, the interview was eventually cancelled "once I realized how deep and dirty this whole thing was".[22] 
 
 Mortenson wrote a statement in response to the allegations against him that were published in the Bozeman Chronicle: "I stand by the information conveyed in my book, and by the value of CAI's work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students", and added, "The time about our final days on K2 and ongoing journey to Korphe village and Skardu is a compressed version of events that took place in the fall of 1993..."[54] 
 
 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.[30][55] 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.[30] 
 
 In response to Krakauer's allegations, CAI produced a comprehensive 'Master Project List' on work CAI had completed, or currently was then working on. The list was released in December 2011.[52] 
 
 In January 2014, Mortenson was interviewed on Today by Tom Brokaw.[56] He apologized and acknowledged that he had let a lot of people down, and said "I failed in many ways, and it's an important lesson."[57] 
 
 In August 2014 Krakauer wrote a follow-up article for The Daily Beast in which he stated that an audit of CAI's overseas projects indicated that the charity was still "beset by widespread corruption" and that Mortenson remaining as the public face of the charity was not "in the best interest of the charity or the people it serves".[46] He concluded that "anyone thinking about donating to CAI should probably reconsider".[46] 
 
 Lawsuits [ edit ] 
 
 In May 2011, Jean Price and Michele Reinhart, and 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.[58][59][60] Several named plaintiffs dropped the lawsuit after confessing they had never read the books.[61][62][63][64] 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.[65] An appeals suit was dropped by the 9th District Federal Circuit Court on October 10, 2013.[66] 
 
 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.[67] 
 
 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 in donors and rise in contributions.[68][69] 
 
 3000 Cups of Tea [ edit ] 
 
 Journalists Jennifer Jordan and Jeff Rhoads began investigating the claims against Mortenson and made a 2016 documentary 3000 Cups of Tea. In the film and interviews Jordan claims that the accusations against Mortenson put forward by 60 Minutes and Jon Krakauer are largely not true. Jordan said in 2014: "We are still investigating this story. So far, our findings are indicating that the majority of the allegations are grossly misrepresented to make him appear in the worst possible light, or are outright false. 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."[70][71] 
 
 Recognition [ edit ] 
 
 Awards [ edit ] 
 
 Honorary degrees [ edit ] 
 
 Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD 2006 
 
 Concordia College, Moorhead, MN 2007 
 
 Montana State University, MT 2008 [104] 
 
 Villanova University, PA 2008 [105] 
 
 University of San Francisco, CA 2008 [106] 
 
 University of Washington – Bothell, WA 2008 [107] 
 
 Lewis & Clark College, OR 2008 [108] 
 
 Colby College, ME 2009 [109] 
 
 Simmons College, MA 2009 [110] 
 
 Saint Louis University, MO 2009 [111] 
 
 Loyola University Chicago, IL 2009 [112] 
 
 University of Pennsylvania, PA 2010 [113] 
 
 Brookdale College, Lincroft, NJ 2010 [114] 
 
 University of Colorado, Colorado Springs 2010 [115] 
 
 Stevenson University (MD) 2010 [116] 
 
 Wittenberg University (OH) 2010 [117] 
 
 University of Alberta, Edmonton (Canada) 2011 [118] 
 
 Published works [ edit ] 
 
 Akiner, Shirin; Tidemen, Sander (1998). Sustainable Development In Central Asia: . Curzon Press. ISBN 0-312-21931-8. 
 
 Jones, Karen; Mortenson, Greg (2005). The Difference A Day Makes . New World Library. ISBN 1-57731-475-1. 
 
 Mortenson, Greg; Relin, David Oliver (2006). Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time . Penguin Group. ISBN 0-670-03482-7. 
 
 Mortenson, Greg; (with illustrator) Roth, Susan; (January 22, 2009). Listen To The Wind (children's picturebook) . Dial. ISBN 978-0-8037-3058-8. 
 
 Mortenson, Greg; Relin, David Oliver, adapted by Sarah Thomson (January 22, 2009). Three Cups of Tea: The Young Reader's Edition . Dial. ISBN 978-0-8037-3392-3. 
 
 Mortenson, Greg; (December 1, 2009). Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-02115-4. 
 
 Personal life [ edit ] 
 
 Mortenson lives in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife Tara Bishop, a clinical psychologist, and their two children, Amira and Khyber.[119][120][121] In 2011, Mortenson was diagnosed with hypoxia and had surgery for an aneurysm and an atrial septal defect, an event which exactly coincided with the airing of the 60 Minutes expose and the release of Krakauer's accompanying book.[122][123] 

 "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson sent an email to supporters today, calling a CBS News program "60 Minutes" report that criticized his memoir and alleged financial improprieties "a distorted picture using inaccurate information." 
 
 Mortenson, a three-time Nobel Prize nominee, recounted in the book how he was inspired to help establish schools, especially for girls in Pakistan, after he got lost while hiking there and stumbled upon the village of Korphe, where he was taken in and cared for by the villagers. 
 
 The "60 Minutes" segment aired today, alleged that the story is a fabrication and that Mortenson uses his charitable organization as a "private ATM machine." 
 
 Among the show's other allegations against Mortenson -- who has sold millions of copies of his best-selling book about traveling and later building schools in Pakistan -- were that his charitable organization has taken credit for building schools that don't actually exist or were built by others. 
 
 "Three Cups of Tea," tells the tale of this experience, and how his time with the villagers inspired him to return to the region to build a school for girls. 
 
 "As those of you who know me and have supported my work over the years will recognize, the story being framed by '60 Minutes' to air in a few hours today -- as far as we can tell -- paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information, innuendo and a microscopic focus on one year's (2009) IRS 990 financial, and a few points in the book 'Three Cups of Tea' that occurred almost 18 years ago," Mortenson wrote in the email today. 
 
 "The Board of Directors and I made the very difficult decision to not engage with '60 Minutes' on camera, after they attempted an eleventh hour aggressive approach to reach me, including an ambush in front of children at a book signing at a community service leadership convention in Atlanta," he wrote. "It was clear that the program's disrespectful approach would not result in a fair, balanced or objective representation of our work, my books or our vital mission." 
 
 Among those who have publicly declared their doubt about Mortenson's account of his early experiences in Pakistan is Jon Krakauer, author of bestsellers "Into the Wild" and "Into Thin Air." 
 
 In the email, Mortenson said he had also turned down a request from Krakauer for an interview. 
 
 Porters who met Mortenson on his mountain trip in Pakistan dispute his being lost at the time and have said that he only stumbled into the village while returning from hiking K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth, according to the "60 Minutes" report. They allege that he didn't visit Korphe and meet the villagers mentioned in the book until a year later. 
 
 "It's a beautiful story. And it's a lie," Krakauer told CBS News. "I have spoken to one of [Mortenson's] companions, a close friend who hiked out from K2 with him, and this companion said, 'Greg never heard of Korphe until a year later.'" 
 
 "If you read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, 'I am being taken for a ride here,'" he added. 
 
 According to the website of the Central Asia Institute, which was co-founded by Mortenson and Jean Hoerni, the non-profit has established more than 170 schools and helped educate more than 68,000 students, with an emphasis on girls' education. 
 
 During the investigation, "60 Minutes" found that several of the principals of a number of the schools allegedly built and funded by CAI where empty or built by others, while several school principals said they had not received money from CAI in years. 
 
 The CBS report also alleges that the CAI spends more donor money discussing the buildings of schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the U.S. than it does on actually building them -- while one charity group alleges that donor money is being used to promote Mortenson and his book. 
 
 "In 2002, [Mortenson's] board treasurer quit, resigned, along with the board president and two other board members ... he said, in so many words, that Greg uses Central Asia Institute as his private ATM machine. That there's no accounting. He has no receipts," Krakauer told CBS. 
 
 In a statement released by Mortenson via the CAI on Friday, the author and humanitarian defended himself, his organization and the integrity of his work. 
 
 "I stand by the information conveyed in my book and by the value of CAI's work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students," Mortenson said. 
 
 "I continue to be heartened by the many messages of support I receive from our local partners in cities and villages across Afghanistan and Pakistan, who are determined not to let unjustified attacks stop the important work being done to create a better future for their children." 
 
 Mortenson also pointed to sexism in the countries where his organization has built schools as a cause of the controversy, stating that "Afghanistan and Pakistan are complex places, torn by conflicting loyalties, and some who do not want our mission of educating girls to succeed." 
 
 "Three Cups of Tea" was co-authored with David Oliver Relinhis and has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide since its 2006 release by Penguin Books. 

 (CNN) -- Greg Mortenson, the high-profile advocate of girls' education in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been forced to defend his best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations ... One School at a Time," against charges that key stories in it are false. 
 
 Mortenson shot to international fame with the book, which describes his getting lost in an effort to climb K2, the world's second-highest peak, being rescued by Pakistani villagers in the village of Korphe and vowing to return there to build a school for local girls. 
 
 He also claims to have been captured by the Taliban and held for several days before being released. 
 
 Another best selling-author, however -- Jon Krakauer of "Into Thin Air" fame -- told a CBS "60 Minutes" investigation that aired Sunday that the story is not true. 
 
 "It's a beautiful story, and it's a lie," Krakauer tells the program. 
 
 "Three Cups of Tea," co-authored by writer David Oliver Relin, stayed on The New York Times best-seller list for four years after it was first published in 2006, becoming a global publishing sensation that has sold more than three million copies and been translated into 47 languages. 
 
 CNN.com interviews Greg Mortenson in 2008 
 
 
 
 Mortenson is also the author of the 2009 sequel "Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan," which was another Times best-seller. 
 
 Both books recount Mortenson's quest to bring schools to some of the remotest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan on the theory that education -- especially for girls -- is the best way to end the scourge of the Taliban and other extremists in the region. Mortenson's publisher, Penguin Books, modestly describes him as "a real-life Indiana Jones." 
 
 Mortenson's quest to end extremism through education has made him a darling of the U.S. military. A photograph in "Stones into Schools" shows U.S. President Barack Obama's top military adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen, opening a girls' school in northern Afghanistan with Mortenson in 2009. 
 
 Krakauer is a climber and former donor to Mortenson's charity. CBS said he was one of Mortenson's earliest backers, donating $75,000 to his cause, but withdrew his support over concerns the charity was being mismanaged. 
 
 He tells CBS News investigator Steve Kroft in the Sunday broadcast that a "close friend" of Mortenson's who hiked back with him from K2 says Mortenson never heard of Korphe, the village he says he stumbled into, until a year after the failed climbing attempt. 
 
 In a transcript of Mortenson's written responses to questions posed to him by CBS -- a transcript posted on the website of Mortenson's charitable organization, the Central Asia Institute -- the author denies the claim is false. 
 
 Read more about the Central Asia Institute at its website 
 
 
 
 He says he did visit Korphe in 1993, after his failed attempt to climb K2, but that the local people "have a completely different notion about time" than those in the West, implying they would not have been able to recount the exact year he visited. 
 
 "60 Minutes" also raised questions about the veracity of other episodes in the book, including his supposed 1996 kidnapping in the remote Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, along the Afghan border. 
 
 That story is one of the more exciting episodes in "Three Cups of Tea." Over the course of a chapter, Mortenson describes being kidnapped by Waziri tribesmen and detained in a makeshift prison by Kalashnikov-toting guards for eight days, at which point he was suddenly released. 
 
 In "Stones into Schools," Mortenson even provides a photo of his kidnappers, 13 fierce-looking tribesmen, many of whom are clutching guns. 
 
 CBS said it found four of the men in the picture and that all denied being Taliban. The network said the men provided another photo of the group with Mortenson, and in it, the author is shown holding an AK-47. 
 
 The photos raise a question about the truth of Mortenson's claim that he was abducted. It is somewhat unusual for a group of kidnappers to pose for a photograph in which all their faces can be clearly seen. Gary Noesner, the former chief hostage negotiator at the FBI who has worked on 120 kidnapping cases, says it is "not common but not unheard of" for kidnappers to pose for pictures. 
 
 One of the supposed kidnappers in Mortenson's photo is Mansur Khan Mahsud, who directs a Pakistani think tank that specializes in research in Pakistan's tribal regions. (Mahsud has done research for the New America Foundation, where Peter Bergen is a director.) 
 
 Contacted by CNN, Mahsud said Mortenson's account of his trip to Waziristan "is a pack of lies and not a single word of it is true." Mahsud elaborated that Mortenson had come to South Waziristan in 1996 with one of Mahsud's relatives and had stayed in the family village, Kot Langer Khel, for more than a week. 
 
 Rather than being kidnapped, Mahsud says, his family treated Mortenson as "an honored guest" and adds, "We were his protector in South Waziristan." 
 
 On his website, gregmortenson.com, Mortenson claims the kidnapping was carried out by the Taliban. However, the Taliban had no presence in Waziristan in 1996, only arriving in the region after their fall from power in Afghanistan in the winter of 2001. 
 
 The Taliban had also banned photography at the time that they had supposedly kidnapped Mortenson. 
 
 In the transcript posted on the institute website, Mortenson stands by his claim of being "detained" for eight days in Waziristan in 1996. 
 
 "It was against my will, and my passport and money were taken from me," Mortenson says in the transcript. "I was not mistreated or harmed, but I was also not allowed to leave. A blanket was put over my head any time I was moved by vehicle." 
 
 He continues, "A 'Talib' means student in Arabic, and yes there were Taliban in the region. ... Some people are Taliban, some are not, and affiliations change overnight, often on a whim." 
 
 Friday, the Montana-based Mortenson gave an interview to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle in which he said, "I thought it best to befriend the people detaining me," and added the men who had detained him may have perceived the episode differently. 
 
 In an e-mail sent Sunday to supporters, Mortenson says the "60 Minutes" interview "paints a distorted picture using inaccurate information, innuendo, and a microscopic focus on one year's (2009) IRS 990 financial, and a few points in the book 'Three Cups of Tea' that occurred almost 18 years ago." 
 
 Mortenson also issued a rejection of the "60 Minutes" allegations in a statement issued Friday by the Central Asia Institute, in advance of the broadcast. 
 
 "I stand by the information conveyed in my book," Mortenson said. He also defended "the value of CAI's work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students." 
 
 He described Afghanistan and Pakistan as "complex places torn by conflicting loyalties, and some who do not want our mission of educating girls to succeed." 
 
 Mortenson declined CBS' requests for an interview and CNN has not been able to reach him. 
 
 He says in the e-mail that he declined to appear on camera with CBS "after they attempted an eleventh-hour aggressive approach to reach me" and he decided they had a "disrespectful approach" that would result in an unfair and imbalanced report. 
 
 "The '60 Minutes' program may appear to ask simple questions, but the answers are often complex, not easily encapsulated in 10-second soundbites," Mortenson writes. 
 
 His institute also said in a statement to CNN on Sunday that he is not commenting in person because of a medical condition. 
 
 "Greg has been suffering from hypoxia (low oxygen condition) for about 20 months, even though he still works nonstop. Last Friday, he was diagnosed with a tear hole in his heart wall that causes significant blood shunting and he will have a heart surgical procedure done on Thursday to correct it. Once his cardiologist allows he will be able to comment on his story in person," the statement said. 
 
 Mortenson's record of charity and his tales of derring-do have helped fuel the Central Asia Institute. The organization recorded income of $14 million in 2009, the vast majority of which was raised from private individuals, many of them who were no doubt inspired by Mortenson's books. 
 
 However, in 2009, less than half of that money -- 41 percent -- actually went to building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to the institute's board of directors. On its website, the institute said "a significant portion of the remainder" was dedicated to the charity's other programs, such as outreach and education about the need for the schools. 
 
 The institute also says $1.7 million went to promote Mortenson's books in the form of advertising, events, film and professional fees, and some travel. It said the contributions generated by Mortenson's promotional events "far exceed the travel expenses." 
 
 Daniel Borachoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, told CBS the institute has issued only one audited financial statement in the 14 years of its existence, and that it demonstrates a lack of transparency and "disappointing" intermingling of Mortenson's personal interests with those of his charity. 
 
 Krakauer also said he has concerns about the finances of Mortenson's organization. 
 
 "Nobody is overseeing what goes on. He doesn't know how many schools he's built. Nobody knows how much these schools cost," he said. 
 
 In the e-mail, Mortenson says he recently returned from Afghanistan, where his organization plans to establish and built more than 60 new schools this year. 
 
 He also says he is scheduled for surgery this week to fix the hole in his heart, and "after a few weeks my doctor says I will be as good as new." 
 
 CNN's Maria Ebrahimji and Richard Greene contributed to this report. 

 Questions over Greg Mortenson's stories 
 
 Please note this story has been formatted transcript style. 
 
 Greg Mortenson is a former mountain climber, best-selling author, humanitarian, and philanthropist. His non-profit organization, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), is dedicated to promoting education, especially for girls, in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and according to its web site, has established more than 140 schools there. 
 
 President Obama donated $100,000 to the group from the proceeds of his Nobel Prize. Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, has sold more than four million copies and is required reading for U.S. servicemen bound for Afghanistan. 
 
 But last fall, we began investigating complaints from former donors, board members, staffers, and charity watchdogs about Mortenson and the way he is running his non-profit organization. And we found there are serious questions about how millions of dollars have been spent, whether Mortenson is personally benefiting, and whether some of the most dramatic and inspiring stories in his books are even true. 
 
 Greg Mortenson's books have made him a publishing phenomenon and sought-after speaker on the lecture circuit, where he has attained a cult-like status. He regularly draws crowds of several thousand people and $30,000 per engagement. 
 
 And everywhere Mortenson goes, he brings an inspirational message built around a story that forms the cornerstone of Three Cups of Tea and his various ventures - how, in 1993, he tried and failed to reach the summit of K2, the world's second tallest mountain, to honor his dead sister, how he got lost and separated from his party on the descent and stumbled into a tiny village called Korphe. 
 
 Greg Mortenson (speaking on big T.V. screen): My pants were ripped in half and I hadn't taken a bath in 84 days. 
 
 Mortenson (in T.V. interview): And I stumbled into a little village called Korphe, where I was befriended by the people and... 
 
 Mortenson (in another T.V. interview): They gave me everything they had: their yak butter, their tea. They put warm blankets over me, and they helped nurse me back to health. 
 
 Mortenson tells how he discovered 84 children in the back of the village writing their school lessons with sticks in the dust. 
 
 Mortenson (speaking on stage): And when a young girl named Chocho came up to me and said... 
 
 Mortenson (speaking on another stage): Can you help us build a school? I made a rash promise that day and I said, "I promise I'll help build a school." Little did I know it would change my life forever. 
 
 It's a powerful and heart-warming tale that has motivated millions of people to buy his book and contribute nearly $60 million to his charity. 
 
 Jon Krakauer: It's a beautiful story, and it's a lie. 
 
 Jon Krakauer is also a best-selling author and mountaineer, who wrote Into Thin Air and Into The Wild. He was one of Mortenson's earliest backers, donating $75,000 to his non-profit organization. 
 
 But after a few years, Krakauer says he withdrew his support over concerns that the charity was being mismanaged, and he later learned that the Korphe tale that launched Mortenson into prominence was simply not true. 
 
 Steve Kroft: Did he stumble into this village weak in a weakened state? 
 
 Krakauer: Absolutely not. 
 
 Kroft: Nobody helped him out. And nursed him back to health. 
 
 Krakauer: Absolutely not. I have spoken to one of his companions, a close friend, who hiked out from K2 with him and this companion said Greg never heard of Korphe till a year later. 
 
 Strangely enough, Krakauer's version of events is backed up by Greg Mortenson himself, in his earliest telling of the story. In an article he wrote for the newsletter of The American Himalayan Foundation after his descent from K2, Mortenson makes no mention of his experience in Korphe, although he did write that he hoped to build a school in another village called Khane. 
 
 Produced by Andy Court, Kevin Livelli and Maria Usman 
 
 

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– A bestselling memoir about an American's efforts to build schools for girls in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been lashed as a "pack of lies" in a 60 Minutes investigation. In Three Cups of Tea, author Greg Mortenson wrote about his experience being nursed to health by Pakistani villagers after he became lost after a mountain trek on K2. Their kindness sent him on a path of school building. But 60 Minutes skewers the book as a fabrication and asserts that Mortenson uses his charitable organization, Central Asia Institute, as a "private ATM machine." Mortenson, a three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, didn't meet villagers until a year after he says he did, and most of the 170 schools he claims to have built are either empty or were built by others, according to the investigation. "It's a beautiful story, and it's a lie," says award-winning journalist Jon Krakauer, who donated $75,000 to the charity before investigating it. Mortenson's tale of being kidnapped by the Taliban in his best-selling sequel, Stones Into Schools, is also discounted. Mortenson countered in an email to supporters that the news program "used inaccurate information," without revealing details, reports ABC News. As for the date of when he visited the Pakistani village, he said villagers have a "completely different notion about time."