Two Memorial Union parking ramp employees have been arrested and charged with theft after more than two months of investigation.

Khalil Ahmad, 35, graduate student in civil, construction and environmental engineering, was arrested Monday. Mohammad Naeem Firoz, 49, undeclared graduate student, was arrested Tuesday.

Ahmad was charged with one count of ongoing criminal conduct and one count of second-degree theft. A conviction on the ongoing criminal conduct charge could mean up to 25 years in prison. A theft conviction carries a sentence of up to five years in prison and $7,500 in fines.

Ahmad is being held at the Story County Jail on a bond of $40,000, according to a press release from the Department of Public Safety.

Firoz was charged with one count of ongoing criminal conduct and one count of first-degree theft. He could also face 25 years of confinement for the criminal conduct charge, and the theft charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Firoz is being held at the Story County Jail on a bond of $50,000, according to police.

An internal audit conducted on the union ticket booth in February showed discrepancies, which Internal Audit Director Sheryl Rippke said she thought was the result of not keeping track of parking tickets.

“To begin with, we were afraid that some of the payments weren’t coming through,” she said.

After the department began tracking tickets by their number, the staff discovered it wasn’t just a case of missing tickets, Rippke said, which is when the ISU Police were brought in.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said that, on March 2, surveillance cameras were placed in the ticketing booth.

During the course of several weeks, he said, the cameras recorded the accused men removing money from the register inside the booth.

According to the press release, police believe Firoz stole more than $10,000 during the course of several years and believe Ahmad has stole than $1,000 in the last few months.

Deisinger said search warrants were executed April 6 in both of the accused persons’ homes, and ticket stubs from the parking ramp were found.

Other evidence is still being processed, but Deisinger said he couldn’t elaborate.

Another employee, Patrick McCarthy, junior in political science, was charged with fifth-degree theft, a simple misdemeanor, after he was seen on camera taking a small amount of cash from the ticket booth.

He was cited and released Friday, according to police.

All three employees provided police with statements, Deisinger said, which helped estimate the amount of stolen money.

Court dates for Firoz and Ahmad have not been set yet, according to court records.

Deisinger said cases like this are not an ongoing problem for the university.

“I firmly believe the vast majority of ISU employees who handle money are persons of high integrity and honesty,” he said. “This most recent circumstance is the exception to the rule.”