Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way by Jon Krakauer Read Free Book Online Page A

for these expenses, and repeatedly ignored my requests for their submission … . Mr. Mortenson has refused to submit even one travel voucher … . In order to allocate indirect expenses, it is imperative that I receive time sheets from all employees. Since March 2004, Mr. Mortenson has failed to submit a time sheet … .
On May 27, 2004, I again reported to the Board the serious situation as it related to overseas expenses. At that time, there was over $100,000 in unaccounted overseas expenses. Mr. Mortenson agreed to provide all documentation for overseas expenses. To date, he has not produced the promised documents in any meaningful manner. In fact, currently CAI has spent over $270,000 in cash and wire transfers [emphasis by Raynor] without proper documentation as to the disbursement of this money. There is no record to who ultimately received these monies or the manner in which it was spent.
Mr. Mortenson has reported that measures have been implemented to resolve the unsubstantiated overseas documentation; however, no specifics have been forthcoming.
In August 2004, I learned that information given to me to be placed in the Annual Report is untrue and therefore fraudulent.
Unfortunately, Mr. Mortenson has determined that he has no need of providing financial information to the CFO. These circumstances are untenable. I am unable to fulfill the duties and responsibilities as CFO and Staff Supervisor. Thus, I had no alternative but to resign from CAI effective September 3, 2004.
     
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    IN MARCH 2006, Viking Penguin published Three Cups of Tea in hardcover. Later that year, the CAI board of directors increased Mortenson ’ s annual salary to $145,000. When the paperback edition of Three Cups came out in January 2007, the book vaulted to the top of the New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list and remained at number one for forty-three weeks. To capitalize on the resulting publicity, Mortenson resolved to turn CAI “ into a promotion-and-fund-raising machine ” by launching what amounted to a perpetual book tour — an exhausting schedule of public appearances that is still ongoing (as of April 2011). This relentless marketing campaign has reaped impressive rewards. In 2006, CAI ’ s total revenue amounted to $1.6 million. In 2007 it was $3.8 million. In 2008, it ballooned to $14.1 million, and in 2009 (the most recent year for which CAI has filed a tax return), it was $14.3 million. In 2010, according to statements by Mortenson, CAI received more than $20 million in donations.
    Mortenson has not been shy about taking credit for the windfall CAI has received from his promotional efforts. He has been more reticent about acknowledging the millions of dollars that have flowed into his personal bank account along the way. It may surprise many people who have donated money to CAI, as it surprised me, to learn that CAI receives none of the proceeds from any of Mortenson ’ s books. All of the royalties from Three Cups of Tea are split equally by Mortenson and David Relin. All of the royalties from his other books are paid to Mortenson alone.
    Although Mortenson concedes that CAI receives none of the proceeds from his books, in a press release issued on April 16, 2011, the CAI board of directors asserted, “ Greg has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the organization, which includes a percentage of his royalties from his books, and worked for the organization without compensation for a number of years. ” But such claims appear to contradict financial statements posted on CAI ’ s website. Nothing in the foundation ’ s financial records indicates Mortenson has ever donated anything close to hundreds of thousands of dollars to CAI, and the financial records of both CAI and the American Himalayan Foundation show, without question, that Mortenson has received a salary for his humanitarian work every year since 1995.
    CAI supporters may be even more dismayed to learn, as I was, that although CAI