Facebook Uncovers 'Smoking Gun' Evidence in Paul Ceglia Case

The Paul Ceglia vs. Facebook lawsuit has got another twist in the tale, as the Menlo Park, California-based social networking company has claimed to have revealed "smoking gun" evidence against Ceglia, the New York state resident, who claimed half of Mark Zuckerberg's stake in Facebook.

According to a Facebook court filing on Thursday, the social networking giant has strong proof that the contract, which Ceglia claimed to have struck with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, is fraudulent. Ceglia said that as per the contract, he is entitled to half of the company.

Attorneys for Facebook said that key documents have been uncovered from Ceglia's computers that weaken his claims. Facebook, however, didn't disclose the documents, but asked for permission from a U.S. judge to make them public, Reuters reported.

"(Ceglia) does not want the public to know what was discovered on his computers," attorneys for Facebook wrote, "because it includes smoking-gun documents that conclusively establish that he fabricated the purported contract and that this entire lawsuit is a fraud and a lie."

Upon a request for comment, an attorney for Ceglia did not immediately respond.

Back in June, Ceglia, a wood pellet salesman from Wellsville, New York, cleared a lie-detector test that was conducted to determine the authenticity of the 2003 contract with Zuckerberg. Ceglia's said that the results of the lie-detector test prove the authenticity of the agreement.

Later that month, Ceglia got a new lawyer. Jeffrey Lake of San Diego, Ceglia's new lawyer runs a four-man law firm called Lake APC.

Facebook, with more than 500 million users, admitted that Zuckerberg did some programming work for Ceglia to earn money when he was a freshman at Harvard in 2003. However, the company denied Ceglia's stake in Facebook.

On his character, Facebook said Ceglia "has spent the past seven years as a hustler engaged in various land swindles and wood-pellet scams."