Since the failed coup attempt in Turkey on July 15th, the name of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen is on everyone's lips.

Not only is President Erdogan pointing the finger at Gulen as the mastermind of the coup, so is General Hulusi Akar, the Chief of Staff of Turkey's Armed Forces and the country's top ranking general. In testimony to prosecutors in Ankara earlier this week he stated that while he was being held captive by pro-coup soldiers he was asked to speak to Gulen, who he described as their "opinion leader," but he refused.

"I believe those coup-plotters are members of [Gulen's] organization," Akar said. "I think they thought their organization would take a huge blow after our Supreme Military Council meeting in August — which we prepared for studiously. This terror organization probably foresaw the outcome of the upcoming meeting and attempted a coup by bombing the parliament building and security offices, killing civilians, attacking their own brothers-in-arms and units with a ferocity and dishonor never seen before."

So who is Fethullah Gulen? Well, that depends who you ask. If you ask the well-coiffed liars of the corporate lapdog media, Gulen is a kindly old reclusive imam who is operating a multi-billion dollar global Islamic school network from his compound fortress in Pennsylvania…for some reason or other.

Here's 60 Minutes' take:

We went to Turkey to learn more and found Gulen's schools are everywhere and considered the best. They're often multi-million dollar hi-tech facilities where girls are equal to boys and English is taught starting in first grade.

Gulen didn't only influence education. Starting in the late 60s, as a young imam, he urged crowds of middle class Turks to learn from the West and embrace its values – including an unexpected one: making money. In this Internet sermon, he even told followers: "If you don't seek ways to be wealthy…that is a sin in the eyes of God." So his disciples in Turkey became successful businessmen and built a multi-billion dollar Gulen empire that beyond the schools, includes TV stations, a major bank, Turkey's largest trade association, and biggest newspaper.