Facebook co-founder rejects ownership lawsuit as a ‘scam’

Facebook yesterday rejected as a “scam” a lawsuit filed by a New York man who claims he is entitled to 84 per cent of the wildly successful social network.

Facebook’s statement came as a US District Court judge in Buffalo, New York, held a hearing in the suit filed against Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg by Paul Ceglia of Wellsville, New York.

Mr Ceglia, in the suit filed in June, claimed that he signed a contract with Mr Zuckerberg in April 2003 to design a website called The Face Book, or The Page Book, by January 1, 2004. According to the lawsuit, Mr Ceglia acquired 50 per cent of the business and an additional one per cent interest per day until it was complete.

The project, for which Mr Zuckerberg was allegedly paid 1,000 dollars and received a 50 per cent stake, was completed 34 days late, giving Mr Ceglia an additional 34 per cent stake in the business, the lawsuit said.

Facebook yesterday said the case is “a fraud brought by a convicted felon with a well-documented track record of scamming and defrauding honest people.

“This case is his latest scam,” Facebook said in a statement.

New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo accused Mr Ceglia last year of taking more than 200,000 dollars from customers of his wood fuel pellet company and then failing to deliver any products or refunds.

In court yesterday, Mr Ceglia’s lawyer argued that Mr Zuckerberg is a resident of New York, where he was born and raised, and that the case should be heard in New York state court instead of federal court.

Lawyers for Mr Zuckerberg presented evidence showing that Mr Zuckerberg has lived in California, where Facebook is based, for more than six years.

Facebook’s origins have been the subject of two recent books and a hit Hollywood movie, The Social Network.