Paul Ceglia, a New York man who sued Facebook for 84% ownership in 2010, has been arrested.
Ceglia, a web designer turned wood-pellet distributor, was arrested at his home in Wellsville, N.Y., on Friday. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara charged that Ceglia tried to wring billions of dollars out of Facebook in a con scheme. Ceglia falsely claimed to have been promised a 50% share in Facebook "and then doctored, fabricated, and destroyed evidence to support his false claim," according to a press release from Bharara's office. Ceglia will be presented at the federal courthouse in Buffalo this afternoon.
Bharara continued in the release:
As alleged, by marching into federal court for a quick payday based on a blatant forgery, Paul Ceglia has bought himself another day in federal court for attempting a multi-billion dollar fraud against Facebook and its CEO. Ceglia’s alleged conduct not only constitutes a massive fraud attempt, but also an attempted corruption of our legal system through the manufacture of false evidence. That is always intolerable. Dressing up a fraud as a lawsuit does not immunize you from prosecution.
Ceglia had earlier claimed that, according to the contract, he was to be given a $1,000 fee and a 50% stake in Facebook for services rendered, with a further 1% stake for each day until the site was finished, which was on Feb. 4, 2004. In total, that would have made Ceglia an owner of 84% of Facebook.
After Ceglia's suit, the court issued a temporary restraining order, barring Zuckerberg and Facebook from transferring any assets. Facebook asked for the case to be transferred to a federal court, and is trying to have it annulled.