Accused scammer sues Facebook founder

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - He's not exactly "friending" the founder of Facebook. Paul Ceglia of Wellsville claims a contract entitles him to majority ownership of the social networking site.

Attorneys converged on federal court to do battle over freezing Facebook's assets as the lawsuit unwinds. A Wellsville man contends he helped get Facebook off the ground when he hired Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg to help get his own business going. Court documents suggest Paul Ceglia could be entitled to as much as an 84 percent share of the social networking site's giga-bucks.

Ceglia's attorney Terry Connors said, "There are percentages that have been floated out there that need to be filled in with proof. And that's what we intend to do."

In the lawsuit, Ceglia claims this two-page "Work for Hire" was a deal with Mark Zuckerberg, while Zuckerberg was a freshman at Harvard University.

>>>View the "Work for Hire" contract here

Ceglia was developing a mapping website, called "Street Fax," and hired Zuckerberg to help him design it while Zuckerberg was designing his an "online yearbook" he called "Page Book." Ceglia contends he paid Zuckerberg a thousand dollars for work on Street Fax, and for a share of Page Book, which Ceglia believes morphed into the largest social networking site in the world, Facebook.

Why a lawsuit now, six years later? Was Ceglia cheated out of Facebook's $25 billion net worth?

"At this point, we are not contending anything on that score, we're going to wait til the proof develops. You'll have the opportunity to hear the story as it moves forward. It'd be way too premature to get into those discussions right now. I can tell you this: there is an answer," said Connors.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has a vested interest in the outcome of this case. He is suing Ceglia and his wife in state court, accusing the couple of ripping off consumers for more than $200,000 through a wood pellet business they own.

Assistant Attorney General David Sampson said, "No one has received any pellets, to our knowledge, and those consumers, as I said, have paid approximately $200,000 to this company with advance payments."

Facebook's attorneys have not said whether Mark Zuckerberg's signature was authentic. They told us they would respond by email, but so far we haven't heard from them. They are expected to ask Judge Richard Arcara to throw the lawsuit out.

>>>Read the original complaint filed in state court here