Federal prosecutors’ case against Alexandria-based Oxygen Forensics centers on alleged concealment of the company’s Russian ownership and development from U.S. government customers. CEO Lee Reiber and Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The allegations raise questions about how federal buyers assess vendors’ ownership and software development, but do not establish that the company’s software contained malicious code.
According to the Justice Department and reporting by ZERO DAY and the New York Post, prosecutors allege that Reiber and Davydov concealed Russian owners’ role in the company through a Cyprus holding company. Oxygen Forensics, founded in 2013, sold data-recovery and digital-forensics software to federal agencies including the Secret Service, the IRS and the Army. ZERO DAY reported additional customers including Homeland Security Investigations and the DHS Office of Inspector General.
Ownership rules have limits
Federal Acquisition Regulation provision 52.204-17 describes a conditional process for reporting an offeror’s immediate owner and, when applicable, its highest-level owner. Acquisition.gov sets out those disclosure fields, but the provision alone does not establish that it applied to an Oxygen Forensics contract.
The complaint, as described by the Justice Department and news reports, alleges that Reiber made statements to government officials denying or obscuring Russian ownership and involvement in software development. The New York Post reported that prosecutors cited statements in 2022, 2023 and 2024 about the company’s ownership and control; the Justice Department also says Reiber told DHS personnel in March 2026 that Russian nationals were not involved in development and that people in Russia lacked access to the build environment. Those are allegations, not findings of guilt.
The regulatory backdrop does not amount to a general federal ban on software developed in Russia. Acquisition.gov identifies FAR Subpart 4.20 as a prohibition specific to Kaspersky Lab. Separately, a Department of Homeland Security procurement guide describes a Section 1634 restriction on providing or using Kaspersky Lab covered articles on or after October 2018. Those company-specific measures do not establish that Oxygen Forensics was covered or that its software was malicious.
Security assurance is not country-of-origin disclosure
Federal software-assurance guidance addresses a different issue. The Office of Management and Budget’s January 23, 2026, Memorandum M-26-05 says agencies may choose to use government-wide secure-development resources, including the Secure Software Development Attestation Form. That guidance, as described in the memo, does not itself establish a general requirement to disclose where software was developed.
The distinction matters in this case: the federal complaint, as reported by the New York Post, does not allege that Oxygen Forensics software contained malicious code or was used to access customer devices or data without authorization. The charged conduct instead concerns alleged misrepresentations about ownership and development. Prosecutors also allege that the company’s Russian owners sold software to Russian government bodies, including the Federal Security Service, the Investigative Committee and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Earlier reporting and the case ahead
The company’s Russian connections had received public attention before the charges. Forbes reported in December 2023 that Oxygen Forensics was connected through a Cyprus entity to Russian founders Oleg Davydov and Oleg Fedorov. That earlier reporting provides context for the current allegations, but does not by itself establish what federal contracting officials knew or what disclosures were required for particular contracts.
Davydov was arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport on September 20, 2026, as he attempted to board a flight to Istanbul, according to ZERO DAY; U.S. authorities are seeking his return from Britain. Reiber was arrested in Idaho and appeared in federal court there on September 22. The Justice Department says his arraignment is to take place in Los Angeles federal court. Both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
