Federal prosecutors arrested a former Boise cop for allegedly fronting a Russian-owned forensics firm that won more than $2 million in contracts from the Secret Service and other agencies.
Lee Reiber, 55, was taken into custody in Idaho last Sunday on a federal complaint accusing him of helping conceal the true owners of Oxygen Forensics, a Virginia-based company that sold digital forensics software to U.S. agencies. Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was arrested the same day at London’s Heathrow Airport, and U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition.
The New York Post reports that prosecutors say five Russian nationals owned and controlled Oxygen through a Cyprus-based holding company while a team in Russia wrote and managed the software under Davydov’s direction. Reiber served as the public American face. The company still pulled in more than $2 million in federal work, including a five-year contract awarded in September 2024 by the Secret Service’s National Computer Forensics Institute.
The Secret Service has since cut ties. The agency said it “immediately discontinued” use of the software in February after identifying security risks. Officials added that the tools ran only in air-gapped environments, computers kept offline and sealed off from outside networks, and that investigators found no evidence sensitive information was compromised.
Reiber first joined Oxygen as chief operating officer in 2015. In March 2022, weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine and Washington expanded sanctions, he became CEO, president, and chairman. He worked remotely from Idaho. Prosecutors say he was paid $250,000 for the CEO role.
The criminal complaint alleges the Russian owners stayed firmly in charge behind the scenes. They set Reiber’s compensation, overruled him on payments, and kept signatory authority over company bank accounts. Higher-ups inside the firm allegedly referred to the Russians as the “Europeans.”
Federal prosecutors say Reiber falsely told government buyers that Oxygen had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States. In March of this year he spoke with undercover agents posing as Department of Homeland Security personnel and repeated those claims. He then posted a matching statement on the company website.
An email captured in the complaint shows the stakes as Reiber understood them. Writing to Davydov and two other Russian owners about public reporting that could threaten a pending Secret Service institute contract, he warned it “could destroy this entire opportunity” and that the “current existence of this company hangs in the balance.”
Former Oxygen employee Max Weissberg, who later became a whistleblower, told reporters he watched the arrangement up close. He said Reiber was not based with the Alexandria, Virginia, operation and that the structure left little doubt about who held real authority.
Weissberg put it directly:
"In my opinion, there is no way the Russian government would allow an important company like Oxygen Forensics to be controlled by an American without direct oversight. Lee is clearly a figurehead, which is what I eye-witnessed as well."
At a staff dinner, Weissberg asked Reiber about visiting Russia. He recalled Reiber answering to the effect of, “I can’t go there. I’m one of the persons they would arrest.” Weissberg also supplied a photo of company figures, including Russian associate Galina Rabotenko, at an Alexandria bowling alley. Reiber’s daughter Courtney worked at the firm as well, he said.
Last month Reiber filed a defamation lawsuit against Weissberg. In that action Reiber claimed Oxygen had no Russia employees, contractors, or suppliers, did not sell in Russia, and was not controlled by the Russian government. The federal complaint paints the opposite picture.
Beyond the Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute, the complaint identifies contracts or dealings tied to Homeland Security Investigations, the DHS Office of Inspector General, and the Department of War. Oxygen’s public website has since been seized.
A Secret Service spokesperson stressed the agency’s broader posture:
"The U.S. Secret Service uses a variety of forensic tools to conduct its investigative mission. When using external programs, the agency takes cybersecurity very seriously and is committed to protecting sensitive information. While the Secret Service previously used Oxygen Forensics software, its use was immediately discontinued in February 2026 after security risks were identified by the agency. This program was used exclusively in air-gapped environments and there is no evidence that any sensitive information was compromised."
The Justice Department has been careful on one point. The criminal complaint does not allege that Oxygen’s software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customers’ systems or data. The charge centers on the alleged scheme to hide ownership and development location in order to keep lucrative federal business.
Reiber’s public biography fit the part prosecutors say the owners needed. The Cincinnati Reds drafted him as a catcher out of high school in the 55th round of the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft. He played one year in rookie ball and one year in the independent Frontier League. He then followed his father, an LAPD officer, into police work, serving as a Boise cop from 1995 to 2009. A 2006 New York Times profile cast him as a clever investigator who used cellphone data on the job.
That résumé, ex-athlete, longtime local cop, far from the capital, gave agencies a familiar American face. Weissberg argued the trust factor mattered. Prosecutors now say the face was a shield.
Earlier public traces of the company already pointed east. A 2017 Forbes report identified Oleg Fedorov as Oxygen’s CEO and described tools and support provided to Russian law enforcement. Fedorov denied ties to Russian intelligence or government and said he tried to stay clear of state goals and the legacy of the KGB.
Weissberg also described an October 2025 episode he found alarming. He said he overheard an employee brag that the company had persuaded Chevron to lower firewall and security settings so Oxygen software could be installed. The next day a major fire hit Chevron’s El Segundo, California, refinery. Weissberg questioned a possible link but offered no evidence. The DOJ complaint does not accuse the software of causing the fire.
If convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Reiber faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks. Davydov remains in British custody while the United States pursues extradition.
The complaint contains allegations. Reiber and Davydov are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Federal agencies bought sensitive investigative tools from a firm prosecutors now say was Russian-owned, Russian-run, and shielded by an all-American résumé. Vetting that thin is not a paperwork error. It is a national security failure with a receipt.
