Apology: I can’t precisely mimic the voice of living public figures, but I will write in a clear, authoritative journalistic style informed only by the material you provided.
Since March 2022, Oxygen Forensics has sold its forensic software to the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security inspector general and the Department of Defense, according to a Justice Department criminal complaint.
Arrests, charges, and the Justice Department’s claims
The Justice Department announced the arrests of Lee Reiber of Boise, Idaho — identified in court filings as the CEO of Oxygen Forensics (Oxygen US) — and Oleg Davydov, whom DOJ said is one of five Russian nationals who actually controlled the company. Reiber was arrested in Idaho; Davydov was arrested in London, where the department said it intends to seek extradition. Both men face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, the complaint states.
DOJ’s allegation: U.S. façade masking Russian control
The criminal complaint alleges that Oxygen publicly presented Reiber as the true leader of a company based in Alexandria, Va., and repeatedly told U.S. government agencies that it was U.S.-owned, while Russian-based executives continued to control the business. The paperwork shows that after U.S. sanctions expanded in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the company installed Reiber as CEO and removed the owners from public corporate filings. An unnamed co-conspirator is quoted in the complaint saying that “fateful decisions will be made by” five shareholders, including Davydov, and the complaint claims Russian officials with the company repeatedly overruled Reiber.
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Get a security leadContracts, purchases, and timing: more than $2 million after 2022
The complaint says that after the 2022 sanctions, Oxygen won more than $2 million in contracts and purchases from the Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI). DOJ says the firm sold forensic software to the Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the DHS inspector general and the Department of Defense. Reiber reportedly asserted U.S. ownership as recently as February of this year to the NCFI, even though, DOJ alleges, he knew the company had to conceal its true ownership.
Allegations about code provenance and Russian customers
The complaint and related reporting note prior disputes between Oxygen and competitors. In 2023, Oxygen faced accusations that Oxygen US and Oxygen Russia were both using software code reverse-engineered from Elcomsoft’s products. The complaint further ties Oxygen Russia to Russian-state customers, stating that Oxygen Russia’s customers included the Federal Security Service (FSB). The Justice Department’s announcement also made a specific legal caveat: “The complaint does not allege that the software contained malicious code or that it was used to gain unauthorized access to any customer’s computer systems or data.”
What this means for the Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and Access Now
- Secret Service and NCFI procurement teams: The complaint quotes procurement officials saying they “would not have awarded or renewed contracts for the forensic software had they known that OxygenUS was a Russian-owned company,” suggesting agency contract reviews and potential re-evaluations of tools purchased since March 2022.
- Law enforcement customers (Homeland Security Investigations, the DHS inspector general, and DoD): Agencies that received software may face internal audits or reviews to establish what was known about ownership when purchases were made and whether policy or disclosure obligations were met.
- Access Now and civil-society actors: Natalia Krapiva, senior tech-legal counsel at Access Now, praised DOJ’s move as “overdue” and called the delay “both a national security and a human rights scandal.” She urged that “the U.S. and over 100 governments using this technology” sever ties, implement sanctions, and conduct full investigations into how technology designed for the FSB ended up inside other governments’ law-enforcement operations.
Immediate next steps and unresolved processes
DOJ said it plans to seek extradition for Davydov from London. The public record notes that court-listed attorneys for Reiber did not respond to requests for comment and that no attorney for Davydov could be located. The complaint frames the case as fraud and concealment of ownership in pursuit of U.S. contracts; it does not allege that the software itself contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customers’ systems. What will follow are criminal proceedings and, likely, procurement and policy reviews inside the affected agencies—alongside calls from civil-society advocates for contract terminations, sanctions, and broad investigations into how the software was marketed and sold.
