Federal prosecutors say Oxygen Forensics was secretly controlled by Russian nationals through a Cyprus holding company while an American CEO certified to US agencies that no Russian ownership or development role existed.
Court filings say the software had earlier been sold to several Russian government agencies, but the complaint does not allege the software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customer systems.
# What happened Federal prosecutors have charged Lee Reiber, the CEO of Oxygen Forensics, and Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, a Russian national, in a scheme to conceal Russian ownership and control of a digital forensics company that sold software to US government customers.
# Who the people and companies are
# What prosecutors allege According to the complaint: Reiber and Davydov conspired to hide that Davydov and four other Russian nationals owned Oxygen Forensics through a Cyprus-based holding company. Reiber allegedly certified to US government agencies on multiple occasions that the company had no immediate or highest-level owner and that no foreign person controlled director appointments or company decisions. He also later certified that no Russian was involved in developing the software or had access to its development environment.
Prosecutors say those certifications were false because the Russian owners continued to make significant decisions, set Reiber's compensation, overruled him on payments, and held signatory authority over company bank accounts. Internal emails cited in the complaint show Reiber warning Russian owners that critical reporting could "destroy this entire opportunity" and that the company's existence "hangs in the balance" if government contracts were lost.
# Government contracts and timeline Forensics a five-year contract in September 2024. Reiber's certifications to federal agencies occurred in December 2022, October 2023, July 2024, and March 2026. The complaint says the company's website stated there was "no development presence in any restricted jurisdiction."
# Russian connections and prior customers The complaint notes Oxygen's software had previously been sold to the Russian Federal Security Service, the Russian Investigative Committee, and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
# Criminal charges and legal status
# What the complaint does not allege The complaint explicitly says it does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer systems or data.
# Why this matters to government contracting and security The case centers on whether US agencies were given truthful information about foreign ownership and development ties when awarding sensitive contracts. The allegations focus on hidden control and misleading certifications, not on demonstrated technical compromise of systems.
# Immediate next steps A federal prosecution in Los Angeles is expected to proceed. The filings and timeline of certifications and contract awards will be central to the government's case, as will the internal emails cited by prosecutors.
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Federal prosecutors have charged an American tech CEO and a Russian national over a plot to hide their company's ownership and access federal databases through contracts awarded under Biden. Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber, 55, of Boise, Idaho, and Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, of Moscow, Russia, were arrested on charg
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