A US author, nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has agreed to repay $1 million to his charity after a probe into financial misdealing. Greg Mortenson, who wrote the best-selling book "Three Cups of Tea" about his work, will also step down from the board of his charity for "financial transgressions" in a settlement reached with the Montana attorney general.
A year-long investigation by the attorney general's office found Mortenson had "failed to fulfil his responsibilities" to his Central Asia Institute (CAI), but that the charity was worth saving. The probe by Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock followed a CBS television expose last year alleging that some of the most dramatic episodes in Mortenson's best-selling memoir and its popular sequel "Stones into Schools" were fabricated and largely served as a conduit to self-enrichment. In "Three Cups of Tea," which has sold more than four million copies since its 2006 release, Mortenson tells the stirring story of how he was rescued and nursed to health in the remote Pakistani village of Korphe after a failed climb in 1993 of the mountain K2. He writes that as he recovered he promised villagers to come back and build a school - a decision that gave birth to his now famous campaign. But Mortenson "had significant lapses in judgment" that caused donations to CAI to be spent on family flights, clothing and Internet downloads, Bullock said in a statement.