Facebook, Zuckerberg Told To Release Documents On Communications With Paul Ceglia

Social media giant Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg were told Friday by a federal judge to release documents regarding all communications they had with Paul Ceglia, who had claimed he lent Zuckerberg money in exchange for a stake in the company.

Ceglia, a fugitive since last month, had alleged that he gave Zuckerberg $1,000 as startup money in exchange for 50 percent of the future company. With the trial nearing in May, his lawyer had requested documents related to his communications with Zuckerberg be released. However, Facebook said it would only make them available after Ceglia is caught.

U.S. district judge Vernon Broderick said that he had received a request from Facebook and Zuckerberg to suspend an order -- given earlier in the week -- to submit the documents, requested by Ceglia’s lawyer Robert Ross Fogg. The documents included all electronic communications Zuckerberg had with Ceglia about the contract during an 18-month period starting in 2003, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Last month, Ceglia cut off his electronic monitoring tag and fled to an unknown location. His wife, two children and his dog were also missing from their home in Wellsville, about 70 miles southeast of Buffalo.

Ceglia faces criminal charges for falsifying documents to show that Zuckerberg promised him a part of the company. The charges were leveled after a judge dismissed Ceglia's 2010 civil lawsuit claiming he gave Zuckerberg money. Prosecutors reportedly said a forensic analysis of Ceglia’s computers showed he had created false documents.

Last week, federal prosecutors had asked Broderick not to force Facebook and Zuckerberg to turn over the documents and had said, according to AP, that it would "reward Ceglia's flouting of the judicial process while unreasonably drawing on the resources of the government and the authority of the court."

Zuckerberg had said that he did not have the idea of Facebook for months after he signed a contract with Ceglia for making some software for him.

The U.S. Marshals Service has also kept a bounty of $5,000 on Ceglia’s head, according to Bloomberg. The Marshals said in a statement that the amount is being offered for “information leading to the location and arrest” of Ceglia.

Ceglia’s parents and brothers who had signed a $250,000 bond on Ceglia’s behalf may now have to pay the amount.

Facebook is currently valued at about $229 billion.