The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a New York businessman with trying to defraud Facebook by claiming he deserves half of it.
Paul Ceglia is the Web designer and wood chipper who filed a lawsuit against the social media company back in 2010 claiming that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had signed a two-page contract while still a Harvard undergrad. According to Ceglia, that contract entitled him to anywhere from half to as much as 84 percent of Facebook.
Facebook has been fighting the lawsuit for two years, during which it has claimed Ceglia is a "scam artist" and the contract and electronic documents associating Ceglia with Zuckerberg are forged. Ceglia has continued with the lawsuit, changing several lawyers along the way. The government, however, now agrees with Facebook in regards to the questionable nature of Ceglia's claims, and is pressing federal charges against him.
Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York have now issued a criminal complaint against Ceglia, charging him of mail and wire fraud and accusing the man of using the U.S. Postal Service to fraudulently sue the social network company.
"There is probable cause to believe that Paul Ceglia, the defendant, an online businessman, has engaged in a multi-billion dollar scheme to defraud Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. Ceglia filed a federal lawsuit falsely claiming that he was entitled to at least a 50% interest in Facebook," reads the federal prosecutors' complaint. According to U.S. attorney Preet Bharara, Ceglia had been chasing a "quick payday based on blatant forgery."
Zuckerberg did respond to an ad Ceglia had posted back in 2003, when the entrepreneur was allegedly looking for someone to do some programming work for him on a Web site he was developing - StreetFax.com. Facebook and the U.S. Attorney's Office, however, now argue that all of the other agreements that Ceglia claims occurred never actually happened.
According to the complaint, Ceglia forged the contract that supposedly entitled him to part of "The Face Book," doctored evidence, including e-mails allegedly exchanged with Zuckerberg, and destroyed evidence that was inconsistent with his false claims.
"Ceglia has deliberately engaged in a systematic effort to defraud Facebook and Zuckerberg and to corrupt the federal judicial process," adds the complaint.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney Office's implication means that this litigation may finally draw to an end, and Ceglia might actually do some jail time rather than simply having the lawsuit dismissed.
"We commend the United States Attorney for charging Ceglia with federal crimes in connection with his fraudulent lawsuit against Facebook. Ceglia used the federal court system to perpetuate his fraud and will now be held accountable for his criminal scheme," stated Orin Snyder of Gibson Dunn, who has represented Zuckerberg and Facebook in the lawsuit.
According to a press release from the New York Attorney's Office, Ceglia was arrested Friday, Oct. 26, at his home in Wellsville, New York.
