Virginia Tech CEO and Russian National Charged with Concealing Ties to U.S. Government

The Justice Department has indicted the CEO of a Virginia-based software firm and a Russian businessman for allegedly deceiving U.S. authorities about the company’s true ownership structure for several years.

Lee Reiber, 55, who serves as chief executive of Oxygen Forensics, was taken into custody on Sunday in Boise, Idaho, where he resides. He has been released on bond and is scheduled for arraignment in federal court in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. His co-defendant, 52-year-old Moscow resident Oleg Davydov, was arrested the same day at London’s Heathrow Airport while preparing to board a flight to Istanbul. U.S. officials indicated they intend to pursue Davydov’s extradition.

Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, a federal offense that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Oxygen Forensics provides digital forensics tools used by law enforcement and government entities to extract and analyze data from mobile devices and computers. The company’s client roster reportedly includes the U.S. Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Department of War, formerly known as the Pentagon.

According to a criminal complaint, the firm represented to these agencies that it was independently owned and operated within the United States, a claim prosecutors assert was false. Instead, Davydov and four other Russian nationals secretly controlled the company through a Cypriot holding company, with software development directed by a Russian team led by Davydov.

Reiber assumed the CEO role in March 2022, shortly after the names of Russian owners were removed from public filings following expanded U.S. sanctions on Moscow due to the invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors allege the Russian owners retained behind-the-scenes control, including authority over Reiber’s compensation and the company’s bank accounts. In December 2022 and October 2023, Reiber signed government certifications falsely declaring the company independent with no external owner. These documents aided Oxygen Forensics in securing a five-year, $12 million contract with a Secret Service training unit in 2024.

The complaint states that when a reporter inquired about the firm’s Russian connections in late 2023, Reiber cautioned his Russian partners that the coverage “could destroy this entire opportunity.” As recently as March, prosecutors say Reiber denied any Russian ownership or involvement in the software’s development during a recorded conversation with undercover agents posing as Homeland Security officials.

Last week, investigators seized Oxygen’s corporate bank accounts and approximately 57 web domains under a warrant issued September 19. The allegations closely mirror claims made by Max Weissberg, a former employee, in a February YouTube video. Weissberg asserted that the company was “secretly controlled” by a Russian firm with “close ties to the Kremlin,” that “100% of the programmers are in Russia,” and that Reiber was compensated to conceal the truth.

Oxygen Forensics rejected these allegations and filed a defamation lawsuit against Weissberg in August in federal court in Virginia, characterizing the video as part of a retaliatory campaign. The Bureau of Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce is investigating the case with assistance from the Department of War Office, according to Ciaran McEvoy, a public information officer. McEvoy noted that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.