Facebook Sees 'Smoking Gun' Proof of Fraud in Big Case

Lawyers for Facebook say they have "smoking gun" evidence that a New York man isn't entitled to 84% of the company as he claims. The company pored over the computer of Paul Ceglia with the court's permission and says it found proof that Ceglia doctored an agreement with Zuckerberg long ago, reports Bloomberg. The evidence is "embedded in the electronic data on Ceglia's computer," but the company can't specify what it is because of confidentiality rules imposed by the court. That could change at a hearing later this month.

“Defendants have uncovered smoking-gun evidence that the purported contract at the heart of this case is a fabrication,” Facebook said in its court filing. The document is central to Ceglia's claim that Zuckerberg signed over a big stake in the yet-to-be-launched site while working for Ceglia in 2003. Facebook is expected to go public next year with a valuation of $100 billion. (More Facebook stories.)