Alliance has launched an internal investigation after a bust business advised by an MLA sought to charge a graduate hundreds of pounds to campaign for the party during Stormont elections.
The party said it was "at no time asked to participate in such an arrangement" and it would now be examining "how such an offer was made without our approval".
It is the latest controversy surrounding MLA Patrick Brown's former business interest Politrip, which has entered liquidation with debts of more than £64,000 and owing money to dozens of people.
Read more: Alliance Party advertised to recruit unpaid foreign interns to work on election campaign
The company was centred on organising trips for young people to take part in American election campaigns - but students saw their trips cancelled without receiving a refund.
One former student said he gave more than £1,100 to Politrip but was denied a full refund when his scheduled US trip was twice cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ross Wilson, 24, from Bangor, said he was offered an alternative "internship" with the Alliance Party for May's Assembly election.
Emails from Politrip director Rupert Browne offered the graduate a partial refund if he accepted a two-week "placement" to "intern on the NI Assembly election campaign" at a cost of £700.
In one email, Mr Browne said it was "Patrick Brown who will be running the programme who can arrange your start dates and inductions".
Mr Wilson, who said he is a member of the Alliance Party, instead agreed to a shorter Northern Ireland "Politour".
However, he did not receive any further information about the trip before learning this summer the company had gone into liquidation.
He expressed his disappointment over not receiving a refund, saying those involved in the business "need to give a proper explanation" and "take responsibility".
He told Belfast Live: "At the end of the day it's a business that has taken money out of people.
"From what I have gathered I will not be seeing anything of it. There wasn't even any communication from them to say this has happened. I was just finding out through Twitter and Facebook."
In a statement an Alliance Party spokesman said: "Alliance was at no time asked to participate in such an arrangement nor did we agree to do so. No internships were offered by Alliance during the campaign.
"Having been made aware of this claim, we will now be investigating the circumstances as to how such an offer was made without our approval. It would be inappropriate to comment further until that process is complete."
Mr Brown and Mr Browne were also approached for comment.
South Down MLA Patrick Brown set up Politrip Ltd in 2017, operating the business for some years as its sole director.
It was liquidated last year and the brand was sold to Volunteer USA, a company newly set up by Rupert Browne who had previously been working since 2019 as Politrip's general manager.
Volunteer USA continued trading under the Politrip name, carrying on the political travel business until its liquidation in the summer.
On his Stormont register of interests, Mr Brown said he worked as a consultant for Volunteer USA for £800 per month.
Politrip emailed customers in July saying it had made the "difficult and heart-breaking decision" to cancel all trips.
It said the decision was due to "unforeseen last-minute operational costs" and the impact Covid was "still having on the company's ability to operate".
A liquidator was appointed for Volunteer USA in October following a resolution to voluntarily wind-up the business.
Insolvency documents said the company had assets of £2,000 cash in the bank but a total deficiency/surplus of more than £64,000 and 87 consumer creditors. Mr Brown was listed among the outstanding creditors with a bill of £6,400.
When Patrick Brown was previously the director of Politrip Ltd, it sought to charge US interns up to $1,500 to travel to Northern Ireland to volunteer on the 2019 council election campaign.
The Alliance Party said it accounted "fully and properly" for all election campaign expenditure and "no overseas paid campaign staff were recruited or used".
It emerged earlier this year after Alliance faced criticism for advertising to recruit dozens of unpaid and low-paid foreign interns to work on May's Stormont election campaign.
SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath at the time called it a "serious mistake".
Alliance said it had since the advert decided against offering paid intern positions, but a mix of "volunteers" from the UK, Europe and US would help its campaign.
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