Is the author of the "Three Cups of Tea” a fraud?

That’s my impression after watching 60 minutes yesterday. The transcript is available online.

Apparently he has been profiting from his non-profit charity (the Central Asia Institute or CAI).

Daniel Borochoff is president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, which has been examining and rating charitable organizations for the last two decades. He says the Central Asia Institute's financial statements show a lack of transparency, and a troublesome intermingling of Mortenson's personal business interests with the charity's public purpose.

The author made tons of money from the sale of his book and speaking engagement while the charity spent more money to promote the founder’s book than on charity itself.

The $1.7 million that they spent for book-related expenses is more than they spent on all of their schools in Pakistan last year.

In fiscal year 2009, the charity spent $1.5 million on advertising to promote Mortenson's books in national publications, including a full page ad in "The New Yorker." And there are $1.3 million in domestic travel expenses, some for private jets.

He also made up a lot of stories and passed it on as personal experiences/facts to sell his book.

Krakauer: He did. ...and it's a good thing. But if you go back and read the first few chapters of that book, you realize, "I'm being taken for a ride here." It's not a solitary example. Upon close examination, some of the most touching and harrowing tales in Mortenson's books appear to have been either greatly exaggerated or made up out of whole cloth.

This is a must watch interview.