Who Is Lee Reiber? CEO of Virginia Digital Forensics Company Accused of Plotting to Help Russian Nationals Infiltrate US Secret Service

An American CEO has been accused of conspiring to help Russian nationals infiltrate the US Secret Service, the Department of War and other key federal agencies. Lee Reiber, 55, CEO of Alexandria, Virginia-based digital forensics company Oxygen Forensics Inc., was arrested in Idaho on Sunday and accused of conspiring to commit wire fraud, the DOJ announced.

Russian national Oleg Davydov, 52, was arrested Sunday at London’s Heathrow Airport, with US authorities now seeking his extradition. The two are accused of failing to disclose to US officials that Oxygen Forensics was owned by Russian nationals and that its software, which was used by the US Secret Service, was developed in Russia.

Dangerous Scheme to Breach Security

If convicted, the two men could each face prison sentences of up to 20 years. In September 2024, the company entered into a five-year deal with the United States Secret Service (USSS) and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI).

As part of the agreement, Reiber certified that the company did not have any immediate or highest-level owner who could pose a security concern, including a group of Russian nationals.

The software is designed to retrieve, preserve and examine electronic data from digital devices. Its use at NCFI, which provides cybercrime training and education to law enforcement and judicial officials, has therefore become a major concern for federal authorities.

The affidavit names several US government agencies allegedly impacted by the Russian-linked company, including the Department of War, the Department of Homeland Security and the department’s Inspector General’s office.

US prosecutors further claimed that the Russian owners’ names were removed from the company’s records in recent years, roughly around the time Reiber took over as its American 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,” the court documents mention.

Dangerous Move

Prosecutors allege that the software was also used extensively by Russian government security agencies. Davydov developed the software in Russia in 2000, and it had previously been sold to Russia’s Federal Security Service, Investigative Committee and Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“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 Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said.

Reiber allegedly warned his Russian boss, Davydov, in an email that the company’s Russian connections could not be exposed because doing so might “destroy this entire opportunity,” referring to the pending federal contract.

He allegedly wrote that the company’s future “hangs in the balance.” Prosecutors further allege that Reiber told government officials in March 2026 that no Russians had participated in developing the software and that nobody in Russia could access it.

Federal prosecutors contend that those statements were untrue, alleging that a Russian team was responsible for managing the software.