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A former chief business officer for the Lynwood Unified School District pleaded not guilty yesterday to 21 felony counts, including embezzlement by a public officer and misappropriation of public funds.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Upinder S. Kalra ordered William Douglas Agopian, 60, of Santa Ana, to remain jailed in lieu of $700,000 bail. Agopian was arrested last Wednesday by investigators from the District Attorney's Office.

He is charged 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 allege in the criminal complaint that the crimes were not discovered until August 2010 when the district's new director of fiscal services needed to review the district's bank accounts to address financial problems the district was experiencing.

Agopian had been 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.