The chief executive of a US digital-forensics company has been charged with allegedly concealing the firm’s Russian ownership and software-development operation while pursuing contracts with the Secret Service and other federal agencies.
Lee Reiber, 55, the CEO of Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics Inc., and Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Reiber was arrested Sunday in Idaho and appeared in federal court Tuesday before being released on bond. Davydov was arrested Sunday at London Heathrow Airport while preparing to board a flight to Istanbul. US authorities are seeking his extradition.
Each man faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. The charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Oxygen Forensics produces software capable of recovering, preserving and analyzing electronic information from cellphones and other digital devices.
Prosecutors allege that five Russian nationals, including Davydov, owned and controlled the company through a holding company based in Cyprus. The software was allegedly developed and managed by a team operating in Russia.
Reiber was installed as Oxygen Forensics’ CEO, president and board chairman in March 2022, shortly after the US expanded sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian owners were subsequently removed from the company’s public corporate filings, according to the criminal complaint.
Despite those changes, prosecutors allege that the Russian owners continued making major company decisions, determined Reiber’s compensation, overruled him on certain payments and maintained signatory authority over corporate bank accounts.
Reiber allegedly certified to federal officials in December 2022 and October 2023 that Oxygen Forensics had no immediate or highest-level owner.
In November 2023, after a reporter questioned the company’s Russian connections, Reiber allegedly warned Davydov and two other Russian owners that public reporting “could destroy this entire opportunity.”
The pending opportunity was a contract with the National Computer Forensics Institute, a Secret Service-operated facility that trains law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges to investigate cybercrime.
The institute awarded Oxygen Forensics a five-year software contract in September 2024. The agreement reportedly carried a maximum value of $12 million.
Prosecutors also allege that Oxygen Forensics falsely told the Department of War that no foreign individual possessed the authority to control its directors, managers or business decisions.
In March 2026, Reiber allegedly told Department of Homeland Security personnel that no Russians participated in developing the software and that nobody in Russia could access its development environment, per the Daily Mail.
Federal investigators claim those statements were false and that a Russian team continued writing, reviewing and managing the software under Davydov’s direction.
Davydov reportedly helped establish Oxygen Software LLC in Russia in 2000 before assisting with the creation of the company’s US affiliate in 2013.
The software was also sold to Russian government agencies, including the Federal Security Service, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to prosecutors.
Federal agencies that purchased or used Oxygen Forensics products included the Secret Service, Department of Homeland Security, DHS Office of Inspector General and Department of War.
The Justice Department has not alleged that the company’s software contained malicious code or was used to obtain unauthorized access to government systems or data.
The case focuses on whether Reiber, Davydov and their alleged co-conspirators fraudulently concealed the company’s ownership and the location where its technology was developed to secure sensitive federal contracts.
