Evidence Record

US Federal, 2d Circuit  ·  2015  ·  Fabrication

Ceglia v. Zuckerberg

600 F. App'x 34 (2d Cir. 2015)

EmailBackdated documentDocument metadata

What happened

Paul Ceglia brought a claim asserting he owned 50% of Facebook based on a purported 2003 "Work for Hire" contract with Mark Zuckerberg, supported by emails claimed to be contemporaneous. Forensic experts engaged by Facebook analysed the contract and discovered that the ink chemistry showed the document was less than two years old at the time of examination, far more recent than the 2003 date it bore. Email metadata showed creation timestamps incompatible with the claimed sequence of events, and embedded font versions in supporting documents postdated their claimed creation. The Second Circuit affirmed dismissal of the civil claim and the imposition of sanctions. Federal prosecutors subsequently indicted Ceglia for wire fraud and mail fraud based on the fabricated evidence. The case is a comprehensive illustration of how multiple independent metadata signals, including ink chemistry, document metadata, and email headers, can collectively expose a fabrication scheme that relied entirely on centralised, party-controlled records.

Outcome

Case dismissed with sanctions (~$76K). Criminal indictment for wire and mail fraud followed.

Sources

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