An American technology executive has been charged with allegedly concealing a Russian connection while helping Russian nationals gain access to the US Secret Service, the Department of War and other sensitive federal agencies.
Lee Reiber, 55, chief executive of Alexandria, Virginia-based digital forensics company Oxygen Forensics Inc., was arrested in Idaho on Sunday. The Department of Justice charged him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Oleg Davydov, a 52-year-old Russian national, was arrested the same day at London’s Heathrow Airport. The United States is seeking his extradition.
Prosecutors accuse the two men of hiding from US officials that Oxygen Forensics was owned by Russian nationals and that its software, which was used by the US Secret Service (USSS), had been developed in Russia.
If convicted, both men could face up to 20 years in prison.
In September 2024, Oxygen Forensics secured a five-year contract with the US Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI). As part of the agreement, Reiber certified that the company did not have an immediate or highest-level owner who would trigger security concerns, including a group of Russian nationals.
The company’s software is designed to recover, preserve and analyze electronic data from digital devices. Its use at the NCFI, which trains law enforcement and judicial officials to combat cybercrime, heightened concerns among federal authorities.
The DOJ arrested an American CEO accused of concealing his company’s Russian ownership. The firm held a five-year contract with the US Secret Service.
The company was owned by five Russian nationals, while its software was developed and managed in Russia. Prosecutors say its American CEO presented it to federal officials as a US-based business.
Oxygen Forensics signed a five-year agreement with the US Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute in September 2024. Reiber was required to certify that the company had no owner whose identity would raise security concerns, including Russian nationals.
The affidavit names several US agencies that were affected by the Russian-linked company, including the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security and the department’s Inspector General’s office.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Philly Sociopath Raymond Horsch Once Grabbed 9-Year-Old Girl
US prosecutors further allege that the Russian owners’ names were removed from the company’s records in recent years, around the time Reiber became its chief executive.
“Reiber was installed as the company’s CEO, president, and chairman of the board in March 2022. The Russian owners were then removed from the company’s public corporate filings,” court documents state.
Prosecutors also allege that the software was widely used by Russian government security agencies.
Davydov developed the software in Russia in 2000. It had previously been sold to Russia’s Federal Security Service, Investigative Committee and Ministry of Internal Affairs, according to the allegations.
“In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Davydov, Reiber, and the Russian co-conspirators agreed to conceal Oxygen Forensics’ true ownership and the development of its software in Russia,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said.
Reiber allegedly warned Davydov in an email that the company’s Russian ties could not be exposed because doing so might “destroy this entire opportunity,” referring to the pending federal contract.
In another message, he allegedly said the company “hangs in the balance.”
Prosecutors allege that in March 2026 Reiber told government officials that no Russians had been involved in developing the software and that no one in Russia had access to it.
Federal prosecutors say that statement was false and allege the software was managed by a team based in Russia.
The White House referred the Daily Mail’s request for comment to the USSS. The USS did not immediately respond.