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A former chief business officer for the Lynwood Unified School District is to be arraigned Friday on 21 felony counts, including embezzlement by a public officer and misappropriation of public funds, the District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.

William Douglas Agopian, 60, of Santa Ana, was charged this week with six counts of misappropriation of public funds and five counts each of embezzlement by a public or private officer, filing a false tax return and filing a false income tax return.

Prosecutors say the crimes were not discovered until August 2010 when the district's new director of fiscal services reviewed the district's bank accounts to address financial problems the district was experiencing.

Agopian was allowed by a previous school district superintendent, Dhyan Lal, to open an account in April 2006 to facilitate a district-sponsored exchange trip to Lynwood's sister city in Mexico, according to the criminal complaint.

"Unbeknownst to Lal, the account was used by defendant Agopian, who was the district's chief business officer, to collect money of the school district and spend the money on personal items,"' the criminal complaint alleges.

More than $700,000 was diverted into the bank account, and some of the money was allegedly used for Agopian's personal expenses, including tickets to sporting events, gasoline and hotel expenses and personal taxes, according to Deputy District Attorney Dana Aratani.

Agopian was arrested Wednesday by investigators from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, and was being held on $700,000 bail.