Ineffective philanthropy in Asia-7
However, in the early 2010s, a scandal broke out surrounding Greg Mortenson and CAI's finances as multiple organizations and people, such as CharityWatch and John Krakauer, started investigating the charity. In 2011, CharityWatch investigated CAI and claimed that Mortenson misused the organization’s funds for personal gain and expenses. In fact, according to Montana Attorney General’s 2012 investigative report, Mortenson, Mortenson used about $2 million on charter flights, which CAI’s board approved of. Additionally, while CAI was paying for Mortenson’s travel expenses for speaker events, Mortenson received money for travel costs from event sponsors. CAI spent $3.96 million buying copies of Three cups of Tea and an additional $4.93 million on advertising Mortenson’s books. In 2008, he agreed to compensate CAI the same amount of money he earned from royalties on the books CAI purchased, but at the time of the investigation, he had not started.
Due to Mortenson’s misuse of CAI funds, a disproportionate amount of funds were used for advertisement and furthering Mortenson’s career than actually promoting education in central Asia. For instance, in 2009, more money was spent on tours and gaining support in the United States than supporting schools in central Asia.
