CEO Charged In Scheme To Infiltrate Secret Service

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.