Greg Mortenson: Lawsuit against ‘Three Cups of Tea’ author dismissed

A lawsuit against "Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson — who wrote about building schools in Central Asia — was dismissed today because of lack of factual support.

KAJ18 reported that claims of fraud and deceit against the author were found to be "in part flimsy and speculative," according to US District Judge Sam Haddon. The legal action was filed by readers who claimed the book was categorized improperly as nonfiction, and said Mortenson, the Central Asia Institute (CAI), Penguin Group and co-author David Oliver Relin "entered into a fraudulent scheme to falsely portray Mortenson as a hero in order to boost book sales."

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The lawsuit was filed by four people from Montana, California and Illinois who said they were cheated out of about $15 each when they bought the book, according to the Associated Press. It was filed after 60 Minutes and author Jon Krakauer said last year that Mortenson fabricated parts of his book.

Earlier this month, Mortenson settled in another lawsuit. BBC News reported that Mortenson would pay $1 million to his charity, CAI, after an inquiry found he misspent its money. No criminality was found but more oversight for the CAI was recommended.

According to BBC News, the best-selling 2006 book "Three Cups of Tea" tells the story of how Mortenson was rescued after a failed K2 mountain climb in 1993 and nursed back to health in a remote Pakistani village.