DOJ Charges Tech CEO in Scheme to Sell Russian Software to Secret Service
The case illustrates a documented vulnerability in federal contracting vetting: foreign ownership of technology vendors supplying law enforcement can remain concealed through domestic intermediaries.
Federal prosecutors charged Oxygen Forensics CEO Lee Reiber, 52, on September 23, 2026, with allegedly helping Russian nationals conceal their ownership of a digital forensics company in order to secure contracts with U.S. Government agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service. The announcement came from the Department of Justice and was reported by the New York Post.
According to federal prosecutors, Reiber allegedly coordinated with Moscow-based Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, to obscure the Russian ownership stake in Oxygen Forensics while the company pursued and obtained U.S. Government contracts. The specific value of those contracts, the full list of agencies involved beyond the Secret Service, and the duration of the alleged scheme have not yet been publicly disclosed in documents reviewed for this report.
Oxygen Forensics is a company that produces digital forensics software used to extract and analyze data from mobile devices. Such tools are commonly used in law enforcement investigations. The Secret Service uses digital forensics capabilities for both its protective and investigative missions, which include financial crimes and cybercrime enforcement.
The charges as described by DOJ fall under statutes governing false statements to federal agencies and violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) or related export control and sanctions law, though the precise statutory charges listed in the indictment or criminal complaint were not specified in the publicly available reporting reviewed for this story. The actual charging document, filed in federal court, would contain the full list of counts and the maximum penalties Reiber faces.
Federal contracting law requires vendors to disclose foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) when bidding on sensitive government work. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews certain transactions involving foreign stakes in U.S. Companies, but coverage is not automatic for all vendor relationships. Whether Oxygen Forensics was subject to a CFIUS review, and whether any such review occurred, is not established by the public record reviewed here.
The alleged scheme raises questions about the adequacy of due diligence procedures within federal agencies procuring technology tools. Contract award data for Oxygen Forensics is searchable through USASpending.gov, the federal government's public contracts database. A search of that database by name and DUNS or UEI identifier would reveal the total dollar value of awards, the awarding agencies, and the periods of performance. That search had not been completed at publication time, and the specific contract amounts are therefore not reported here.
Russian nationals and Russian state-linked entities have been the subject of multiple federal prosecutions in recent years involving technology, cybersecurity, and espionage. In 2022, the DOJ charged multiple individuals in connection with efforts to acquire U.S. Technology through front companies, citing violations of export control law. The Reiber case, if the allegations are proven, would follow a similar pattern of concealed foreign ownership used to access sensitive government systems.
The Secret Service declined to comment on operational matters related to its software procurement according to standard agency practice, and no statement from the agency appeared in the publicly available reporting reviewed for this story. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service, had not issued a public statement as of publication time.
Reiber has not yet entered a public plea, and no defense attorney statement was included in the reporting reviewed here. Under U.S. Law, Reiber is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Davydov, described as Moscow-based, has not been arrested according to available reporting, a circumstance common in cases where a foreign national resides outside U.S. Jurisdiction.
Several material facts remain unknown from the public record. The full indictment or criminal complaint, once unsealed or publicly docketed, would identify the precise charges, the alleged duration of the scheme, the total value of contracts obtained, and the names of any additional co-conspirators. USASpending.gov records would quantify the dollar amounts paid to Oxygen Forensics by federal agencies. Court filings in the case, which would be accessible through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system, would provide the most complete factual account of the government's allegations.