In Colorado this week, two big news stories have given local Buddhists a fiscal black eye.

According to the Boulder Daily Camera:

Three Naropa University employees -- two of them top administrators -- have been fired after an investigation into embezzlement at the Buddhist-inspired school, the university's president said.

An internal investigation after an FBI tip found that a finance department employee had embezzled roughly $450,000 from the Boulder liberal arts school over a two-year period.

In 2008, a Soka University of America official was sent to jail for embezzling $1.7 million from the self-proclaimed Buddhist institution.

In Denver this week, SGI luminary and Soka University of America trustee, Maria Guajardo was blamed for inappropriate spending of federal child-care funds. The Denver Post reported:

Denver County received $4.2 million in federal funds from the state in 2005. The money was supposed to go toward growing and improving the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, which provides day-care help to low-income families.

Day-care providers across the city applied for the money to do staff training and expand facilities.

The Denver Department of Human Services contracted out the oversight responsibility to the Mayor's Office for Education and Children, headed by Maria Guajardo.

Guajardo's office approved several expenditures that were not allowed under the grant, including building expansions and certain types of instructional materials.

As the SGI's annual drive for unaccountable financial contributions kicks into high gear this month, members ought to ask more question about who's handling the money and with what oversight.