Boise CEO, former BPD detective arrested on charges he illegally hid company's Russian ownership

A Boise-based tech CEO was arrested at his home this week on charges that his firm was a front for Russians.

Lee Reiber, 55, is the chief executive officer of Oxygen Forensics, a software company based in Virginia that told the government that its software was made in the United States. But the Department of Justice said its software was actually developed in Russia, and the company was controlled by five Russian nationals.

Oxygen Forensics’ website is offline, and Reiber’s LinkedIn profile has been deleted. A cached version of Reiber’s LinkedIn profile says he had “more than two decades of experience in mobile device forensics,” and notes “In just a few short years Oxygen Forensics, Inc. has skyrocketed to the top of mobile forensic software ‘food chain.'” Pitchbook said Oxygen Forensics had 53 employees.

A criminal complaint filed earlier this month and posted by Courthouse News said Reiber joined Oxygen in 2015 as COO and later became CEO, and managed the business from Boise. Prosecutors said they also arrested Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov of Moscow, Russia, at London’s Heathrow Airport. Both men are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

“Reiber allegedly represented to the government that the company had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the United States, when in fact five Russian nationals, including Davydov, owned and controlled the company and its software was developed in Russia,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California wrote in a news release. “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.”

The DOJ said that Oxygen wasn’t controlled by American hands but “Davydov and four other Russian nationals owned and controlled the company through a holding company based in Cyprus. “

When the US government expanded sanctions on Russia in 2022 in response to its invasion of Ukraine, the DOJ said Reiber and Daydov “agreed to conceal Oxygen Forensics’ true ownership and the development of its software in Russia.” They installed Reiber as CEO in 2022, and removed the Russian owners from corporate filings, the DOJ said.

In November, 2022, the DOJ said a news reporter asked Reiber about the company’s ownership and connection to Russia. Reiber wrote to Daydov and said the inquiry “could destroy this entire opportunity,” which the DOJ said referred to a possible contract with the National Computer Forensics Institute, and said “current existence of this company hangs in the balance.”

A 2013 interview with Reiber said he retired from the Boise Police Department after a 15-year career. Forensic Focus asked him how he likes to relax.

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“I love to spend time with my wife and beautiful daughters, sitting back thinking about what is on their cell phones and how I can extract it,” he said.

Reiber will be arraigned next month in California, the DOJ said. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison.