A group of high school students was charged with extorting thousands of dollars from one of their classmates at Battambang Provincial Court on Tuesday.

Nine Anlong Vel High School students were charged with “extortion”, having pressured a fellow pupil to part with $11,900 since the end of last year, Battambang provincial deputy police chief Chet Vanny said yesterday.

Horm Sathapana, 18; Hem Sina, 17; Men Sing, 17; Sok Sekorn, 17; Sok Lychhay, 17; Ly Makara, 18; Phin Chha Non, 15; Run Suon Sdey, 18; and Vun Bunrong, 17, all of Sangke district’s Anlong Vel commune had been detained temporarily at Battambang Provincial Prison, Vanny added.

The victim’s father, Ros Chhayly, 53, who runs a large petrol station in Sangke district, claims he lost hundreds of dollars each month which his son stole to pay the extorters.

Chhayly told authorities that his son had admitted taking the money to give to the students in return for their silence about the fact that he had stolen $1,000 from his parents to help buy a necklace and bracelet for his girlfriend, who lived at an orphanage in Sanke district.

“He started to steal the money from the sale of gasoline at my garage and had given it to those boys every month since October 2014,” Chhayly said.