Political party Denk has been ordered to refund most of the subsidies it received for campaigning in the recent referendum on new phone and internet tapping laws because it was not properly spent, the AD reports.

The commission in charge of monitoring how the grants were used has told Denk to refund €16,000 of the €22,229 it was awarded for campaigning. Denk, for its part, blames the online marketing agency it used for not doing a proper job.

In particular, the commission said the voter research carried out by OptimusAd on behalf of the party’s policy bureau Statera focused too much on Denk supporters. Denk, however, says OptimusAd did not justify its approach and delivered a very thin final report.

OptimusAd denies providing shoddy work and has invited Denk, which has said it will refund the money, to talk about the problems.

In total, some 200 organisations and private individuals made claims on the €2m in grants set aside to fund campaigns for and against the new law.