An American technology executive allegedly helped Russian nationals conceal their ownership of a digital forensics company in order to secure lucrative US government contracts, including a deal with the Secret Service.
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber, 52, allegedly worked with Moscow-based Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, as part of a Cold War-style effort to hide the company’s Russian connections while marketing its software to US agencies.
Reiber is now expected to appear in federal court in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors say the alleged concealment could have allowed Russian agents to gain a foothold in a company whose technology is used to “recover, preserve, and analyze electronic data from digital devices” for government customers.
Reiber and Davydov have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the allegations, Reiber told the US government that Oxygen Forensics, based in Alexandria, Virginia, was not owned by Russian nationals and that no Russians were involved in developing its software.
Prosecutors contend that those claims were untrue.
Davydov and four other Russian nationals allegedly controlled Oxygen Forensics through a Cyprus-based holding company. The firm’s Russian-developed software had previously been sold to Russia’s Federal Security Service, Investigative Committee and Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Davydov developed the software and founded the Virginia company in 2013. Reiber joined two years later and was eventually appointed CEO after the United States imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
The complaint alleges that the Russian owners used Reiber as the company’s American public face while keeping their ownership out of corporate filings.
However, prosecutors say Reiber did not have full control of the business.
The Russian owners allegedly “continued to make significant decisions and set Reiber’s compensation, overruled him on payments, and held signatory authority over the company’s bank accounts.”
In December 2022 and again in October 2023, Reiber allegedly certified to the US government that Oxygen had no “immediate or highest-level owner.”
A potentially damaging warning followed soon afterward.
One month after Reiber’s second certification, a reporter questioned him about Oxygen’s Russian links. Emails obtained by investigators allegedly show Reiber warning Davydov and two other Russian owners that the resulting coverage “could destroy this entire opportunity” to secure business with the US government.
He also wrote that the “current existence of this company hangs in the balance” while expressing concern that Oxygen could lose a contract with the government’s National Computer Forensics Institute.
The Secret Service-operated institute ultimately awarded Oxygen a five-year contract for its Russian-developed software in September 2024.
The complaint does not allege that the “software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer’s computer systems or data.”
Instead, prosecutors focused on the company’s alleged ownership structure and its Russian development ties.
The NCFI award documents included Reiber’s certification that Oxygen had no “immediate or highest-level owner.”
Reiber also certified to the Department of War in July 2024 “that no foreign person had the power to control the appointment of the company’s directors or managers or to direct its other decisions or activities.”
And in March 2026, the alleged figurehead CEO made an even broader certification to the Department of Homeland Security — “that no Russian was involved in developing the software and that no one in Russia had access to the environment in which it was built.”
The company website likewise stated that Oxygen had “no development presence in any restricted jurisdiction.”
Now Reiber is facing a federal case that will play out in Los Angeles.
He was arrested in Idaho and appeared in an Idaho court this week. Prosecutors expect him to be arraigned in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, US authorities are seeking to bring Davydov back from Britain after he was arrested Sunday at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Both men face up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
