CEO Arrested for Alleged Scheme to Infiltrate US Agencies with Russian Software

An American CEO has been arrested for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to allow Russian nationals to infiltrate U.S. federal agencies, including the Secret Service and the Department of War. Lee Reiber, 55, the CEO of Alexandria, Virginia-based digital forensics firm Oxygen Forensics Inc., was taken into custody in Idaho on Sunday. The Department of Justice announced that Reiber faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Concurrently, Russian national Oleg Davydov, 52, was arrested at London Heathrow Airport. The United States is pursuing his extradition.

Both Reiber and Davydov are accused of deliberately concealing from U.S. officials that Oxygen Forensics was significantly owned by Russian nationals and that its software, utilized by the U.S. Secret Service (USSS), was developed in Russia. If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison.

In September 2024, Oxygen Forensics secured a five-year contract with the U.S. Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI). A crucial part of this agreement involved Reiber certifying that the company had no immediate or highest-level owners who would raise concerns, such as a group of Russian nationals. The software in question is used for recovering, preserving, and analyzing electronic data from digital devices. Its deployment at the NCFI, which trains law enforcement and judicial officials in combating cybercrime, is a significant point of concern for federal authorities.

The affidavit details that multiple U.S. agencies were potentially impacted by the Russian-linked firm. These include the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Inspector General's office within the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. prosecutors allege that the Russian owners had their names removed from public corporate filings in recent years, coinciding with Reiber's installation as chief executive. Court documents state that Reiber was appointed CEO, president, and chairman of the board in March 2022, after which the Russian owners were reportedly removed from the company's public filings.

Prosecutors also contend that the software was widely used by Russian government security agencies. Developed by Davydov in Russia in 2000, the software had previously been sold to entities such as the Russian Federal Security Service, the Russian Investigative Committee, and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Davydov, Reiber, and other Russian co-conspirators allegedly agreed to hide Oxygen Forensics' true ownership and the software's Russian development in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Evidence presented by prosecutors includes an email in which Reiber allegedly informed his Russian superior, Davydov, that discovery of the firm's ties to Russia could "destroy this entire opportunity," referring to the federal contract. He is said to have added that the company "hangs in the balance."

Furthermore, prosecutors claim that in March 2026, Reiber falsely assured government officials that Russians were not involved in the software's development and that no one in Russia had access to it. This assertion is contradicted by the allegation that the software was managed by a Russian team.

The White House directed inquiries regarding the matter to the U.S. Secret Service, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.