BANGKOK, Thailand – Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Thursday (April 26th) ordered an investigation into claims that officials are trying to extort 20% of compensation promised to those affected by violence in the Deep South, The Nation reported.

The government announced Tuesday it will pay out 2 billion baht ($65 million), but Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha said Wednesday he has heard from families of insurgency victims who have been visited by extortionists.

According to The Bangkok Post, Yuthasak learned of the alleged extortion scheme during a tour of the southern border provinces. Relatives of those killed in the Krue Se and Tak Bai tragedies in 2004 said a group of people came to them in the night demanding 20% of the compensation to be paid to them. The extortionists claimed they controlled who would get compensation.