A U.S. tech CEO and a Russian national have been arrested in a federal case alleging they concealed Russian ownership and software development while securing U.S. government contracts — including work involving the Secret Service.

Federal prosecutors say Lee Reiber, 55, CEO of Virginia-based Oxygen Forensics Inc., and Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, of Moscow, hid the company’s Russian ties while selling digital forensics technology to federal agencies.

Reiber was arrested in Idaho on September 20 and later released on bond. Davydov was arrested the same day at London’s Heathrow Airport while preparing to board a flight to Istanbul. U.S. authorities intend to seek his extradition.

“The CEO of a Virginia-based software company and a Russian national have been arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging them with concealing from U.S. government agencies that their company was owned and controlled by Russian nationals and that its software was developed in Russia,” prosecutors said.

Authorities allege Reiber made representations to the federal government that directly contradicted the company’s actual ownership and development structure.

They further stated that “Reiber allegedly represented to the government that the company had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States, when in fact five Russian nationals, including Davydov, owned and controlled the company and its software was developed in Russia.”

Importantly, the criminal complaint does not allege that Oxygen Forensics’ software contained malicious code or that it was used to obtain unauthorized access to customers’ systems or data.

But the alleged concealment becomes particularly significant because of who was buying the company’s technology.

According to an affidavit supporting the complaint, beginning in March 2022, Reiber, Davydov and others allegedly conspired to obtain federal contracts through Oxygen Forensics.

The company’s software is designed to recover, preserve and analyze information extracted from digital devices.

Federal agencies identified in the affidavit include the Department of War as well as Department of Homeland Security components, including the Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI), Homeland Security Investigations and the DHS Office of Inspector General.

Prosecutors allege the company presented a dramatically different picture of itself to the U.S. government than what existed behind the scenes.

“According to the affidavit, Oxygen Forensics held itself out to the U.S. government as being an independent, U.S.-based company. In fact, Davydov and four other Russian nationals owned and controlled the company through a holding company based in Cyprus,” prosecutors said.

The Russian connections allegedly extended well beyond ownership.

According to the affidavit, the same five individuals owned a Russian company formerly known as Oxygen Software LLC and later renamed MKO Systems LLC. Davydov co-founded that company in 2000, and developers worked in Russia.

MKO reportedly sold similar software inside Russia to customers that included the FSB, the Russian Investigative Committee and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Davydov served as the Russian company’s chief technology officer and helped establish the Virginia-based firm in 2013.

Then came Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and expanded U.S. sanctions.

According to federal investigators, that is when efforts to conceal the company’s Russian ownership and development structure intensified.

The affidavit alleges that the parties agreed to hide both Russian ownership and the role Russian developers played in producing the software.

Reiber was installed as Oxygen Forensics’ CEO, president and board chairman in March 2022.

Russian owners were removed from public corporate filings, according to the affidavit, but prosecutors allege their actual power over the company remained.

The Russian owners allegedly continued making significant corporate decisions, setting Reiber’s compensation, overruling him on payments and retaining signing authority over company bank accounts.

Federal investigators also pointed to certifications submitted directly to the government.

In December 2022 and again in October 2023, Reiber allegedly certified that Oxygen Forensics had no immediate or highest-level owner.

Then, in November 2023, a reporter began asking questions about the company’s ownership.

According to the affidavit, Reiber subsequently wrote to Davydov and two other owners that the resulting public reporting “could destroy this entire opportunity,” referring to a pending NCFI contract.

He also warned that the “current existence of this company hangs in the balance.”

The government’s allegations did not stop there.

In July 2024, prosecutors say that, at Reiber’s direction, the company certified to the Department of War that no foreign person controlled the appointment of directors or company decisions.

Then, in March 2026, Reiber allegedly told DHS personnel that no Russian was involved in software development and that nobody in Russia had access to the company’s build environment.

Federal investigators allege the reality was very different.

According to the affidavit, the software was written and managed by a Russian development team operating under Davydov in a cloud environment administered by one of the Russian owners.

The allegations now place the company’s federal contracting history — and its representations about who actually owned, controlled and developed its technology — at the center of a major federal criminal case.

Reiber and Davydov have been charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The allegations contained in the complaint remain accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

President Donald Trump unloaded on the U.S. Supreme Court on Sunday after the justices blocked Missouri from using its controversial 2025 congressional map in the upcoming midterm elections — a decision with potentially significant consequences for control of the U.S. House.

The map, which Missouri used during this year’s primary elections, was designed in a way that could have given Republicans an opportunity to pick up another congressional seat. But after months of legal battles and conflicting court rulings, the Supreme Court put an end to its use in the November 3 general election.

Trump wasted little time responding.

“The Supreme Court of the United States will just not let Missouri have an Election Victory. They continuously, three times now, overrule Judges who came to the correct decisions,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

The president then praised Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and those who fought to keep the new congressional districts in place.

“Thank you to the Governor, and all of the Great People of Missouri, who are fighting so hard for Fairness and Election Security. Such tremendous Spirit and Love of our Country. I won Missouri BIG, all three times, and I couldn’t be more proud of doing so. A great place — I love you all,” the president continued.

The Supreme Court’s Friday order brought another dramatic turn in a redistricting fight that has bounced between state and federal courts.

The order, issued without noted dissents, halted a federal appeals court directive that would have required Missouri to use the 2025 congressional map.

Timing proved critical.

According to the Supreme Court, ballots based on Missouri’s 2022 congressional districts had already been printed and mailed, while absentee, military and overseas voting was already underway.

Changing maps at that point, the justices wrote, “would usher in electoral chaos.”

The court consequently directed lower courts not to prohibit Missouri from using the 2022 map or require the state to implement the 2025 map for the 2026 congressional election.

The dispute traces back to Missouri Republicans’ decision to enact a new congressional map, known as House Bill 1, during a special legislative session.

Governor Mike Kehoe signed the measure on September 28, 2025.

The map significantly reconfigured congressional districts, including the Kansas City-based 5th Congressional District represented by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. The redraw was intended to create another Republican-leaning congressional district in a state where Republicans currently control six of eight U.S. House seats.

But opponents quickly launched an effort to stop it.

People Not Politicians gathered signatures seeking a statewide referendum on the new map, relying on a provision of the Missouri Constitution that allows voters to review certain acts passed by the legislature.

Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins declined to certify the petition, and the state’s August 4 primary elections proceeded using the 2025 congressional boundaries.

Then came another major reversal.

On September 3, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the referendum petition was legal, sufficient and timely.

That decision meant House Bill 1 had never taken effect and would remain suspended unless Missouri voters ultimately approved it.

What followed was an extraordinary series of conflicting court decisions.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh initially denied an emergency request seeking to block the Missouri Supreme Court ruling.

Minutes later, however, a federal district judge issued an order requiring Missouri to use the 2025 congressional map.

The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently stayed that order.

A federal appeals court then entered the fight, concluding that conducting the primary and general elections under different congressional maps would violate the Constitution. The appeals court directed Missouri to return to the 2025 map.

Once again, the Supreme Court intervened and blocked the ruling.

The result is now clear for November.

Missouri will conduct its November 3 general election using the state’s 2022 congressional districts, despite having conducted its August primary under the newer boundaries.

At the same time, Missouri voters will decide the referendum determining whether the 2025 congressional map should be approved for future use.

Governor Kehoe has said Missouri will comply with the Supreme Court’s order, bringing the immediate legal fight over which map will govern the upcoming general election to a close.

A Democratic congressional nominee who defeated a sitting member of Congress earlier this year was arrested Thursday during a major protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the United Nations in New York City.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s heavily Democratic 13th Congressional District, was taken into custody as demonstrators gathered near U.N. headquarters ahead of Netanyahu’s address to the General Assembly.

Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat in June’s Democratic primary after campaigning as a critic of U.S. support for Israel and receiving the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Now, just months after that upset victory, she was among the politicians, activists and entertainers arrested during Thursday’s demonstration.

The protest, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, drew roughly 250 people to First Avenue and East 39th Street, just blocks from U.N. headquarters.

Demonstrators sat in the roadway while protesting Netanyahu’s appearance and U.S. support for Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Police arrested protesters who blocked the road and refused orders to move.

Video of the moment congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, New York City Council Member Chi Ossé and comedian Caleb Hearon were arrested by NYPD while protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's UNGA speech today. pic.twitter.com/Oe5OEb5t2A

— Shannon Ryan (@_shanryan) September 24, 2026

Avila Chevalier defended her decision to participate and sharply condemned Netanyahu.

“As the Democratic Nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District, I refuse to allow a war criminal to roam the streets of our city unchallenged,” she said.

“I refuse to play host to a man who has overseen the slaughter or injury of more than 64,000 children in Gaza with American taxpayer dollars.”

The description of Netanyahu as a “war criminal” reflects Avila Chevalier’s position. Netanyahu and the Israeli government have rejected accusations that Israel’s military campaign constitutes genocide and have maintained that Israel is targeting Hamas while seeking to minimize civilian casualties.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity. Netanyahu and Israel reject the allegations and dispute the court’s jurisdiction.

Avila Chevalier’s arrest comes after a Democratic primary campaign in which U.S. policy toward Israel emerged as a significant dividing line between her and Espaillat.

She has advocated ending U.S. military support for Israel and has aligned herself with the Democratic Party’s democratic-socialist and pro-Palestinian wing.

Espaillat’s support for Israel became one of the issues Avila Chevalier used to challenge the longtime incumbent.

She ultimately defeated him in the June Democratic primary, securing the nomination in a district covering parts of northern Manhattan and the Bronx.

Thursday’s demonstration showed that she has no intention of softening her position after winning the nomination.

As police led her away, Avila Chevalier told reporters:

“We’re standing against war. Stop the genocide. U.S. dollars for health care, for housing, for education. Not for bombing children.”

She was not the only New York political figure taken into custody.

New York City Council Member Chi Ossé was also arrested during the demonstration.

Ossé similarly condemned U.S. financial support for Israel.

“I’m sick and tired of my taxpayer dollars going towards an active genocide,” Ossé said.

Council Member Alexa Avilés was also among those arrested.

The protest attracted a number of prominent activists and entertainers as well.

Actor Hannah Einbinder and whistleblower Chelsea Manning were among those taken into custody, while other reports identified actor Susan Sarandon among those arrested.

The NYPD said more than 100 people were arrested during the protests surrounding Netanyahu’s appearance.

The demonstration unfolded as Netanyahu addressed the United Nations amid intense international criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

Netanyahu used his appearance to defend Israel’s conduct and push back against allegations surrounding the war.

The Israeli government maintains that its military campaign is directed against Hamas and points to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage, as the catalyst for the war.

Palestinian health officials say more than 73,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the ensuing Israeli military campaign. Those figures do not distinguish in their topline count between civilians and combatants.

The political fight over the war has increasingly spilled into Democratic electoral politics in the United States.

Avila Chevalier’s primary victory over Espaillat was one of several 2026 races in which candidates critical of U.S. support for Israel defeated established Democratic politicians.

Her victory also positioned her to potentially become another democratic-socialist voice in Congress if elected in November.

Thursday’s arrest underscored how central the issue remains to her political identity.

Avila Chevalier did not merely issue a statement condemning Netanyahu’s appearance.

She joined demonstrators in the street outside the United Nations and was taken into police custody alongside other protesters.

For a congressional nominee only months away from the general election, it was an unusually visible act of protest.

And it offered voters a clear look at the kind of politics Avila Chevalier intends to bring to Washington if she wins the seat in November.