A US judge recommended the dismissal of Paul Ceglia’s lawsuit against Facebook, after he had claimed about a half ownership stake in the social media firm.
Ceglia filed a lawsuit against Facebook in 2010, claiming he and Facebook founder mark Zuckerberg signed a contract in 2003, which gave them equal shares in the social networking site.
Ceglia claimed that under the contract they agreed to design and develop the web site which would become Facebook.
He claimed that he hired Zuckerberg to write code for a project, dubbed StreetFax.
US Magistrate Judge Leslie Foschio said the 2003 contract was a "recently created fabrication."
Foschio said Ceglia’s arguments consisted of "self-defeating inconsistencies, serving only to establish the fraudulent nature" of the contract and supporting e-mails.
Facebook deputy general counsel Colin Stretch said that Foschio’s recommendation "Confirms what we have said from day one: this lawsuit is an inexcusable fraud based on forged documents."
"We are pleased the court agrees," Stretch added.
