The charity also spent more than £1m on charter flights for his busy speaking
schedule until news organisations began probing its activities.
Mr Mortenson has now agreed to step down from the charity’s board after last
year resigning his position as executive director.
However, Anne Beyersdorfer, CAI interim executive director, said Mortenson
would continue to be the face of the charity.
“He’s the heart and soul of the organisation,” she said. “He’s
the co-founder and I think we all think of him as our chief inspiration
officer.” In Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson described how he was rescued
and nursed to health in a remote Pakistani village after a failed attempt to
climb K2, the world’s second highest mountain, in 1993.
The 2009 Nobel nominee wrote that as he recovered, he promised villagers to
come back and build a school, a decision that gave birth to his now famous
campaign.
Today the charity has helped build more than 180 schools, and supports 56 more.
However, the investigation pointed to a significant lack of financial
accountability, with vast amounts of cash spent overseas without supporting
receipts and other documentation as Mr Mortenson’s expenses went largely
unchallenged by CAI’s board.
The settlement also calls for a new board to run the charity.
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