The Wellsville Daily Reporter obtained a copy of a check written by Paul Ceglia to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2003, a check which may support Ceglia's claim that he should rightfully own 84% of Facebook. According to the suit, Ceglia signed a "work for hire" with Zuckeberg for a project called "The Face Book," which required a $1,000 investment from Ceglia in the project in exchange for a 50% stake and another "1% interest in the business for every day after Jan. 1, 2004, until it was completed." This check is the first independently produced evidence of a contractual relationship between Ceglia and Zuckerberg. And cue The Social Network sequel?
Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes told Bloomberg, "We have never disputed that Mark did some work for Ceglia. Everything else asserted by the plaintiff is false and his lawsuit is frivolous, if not outright fraudulent." The check was written three days before Ceglia claims he signed a contract with Zuckerberg, and appears to have been deposited the day the contract was signed.
Ceglia's lawyers claim to have the original contract, but have not yet shown it to the public or to Facebook. Ceglia says he found the contract after looking through old papers when Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit against him, claiming he defrauded customers of his wood-pellet fuel company. However, the check might be phony too. Check out the "Pay To The Order Of" name, and please tell us who "Mark Zuckerburg" is.
