An all-American ex-cop and pro baseball player allegedly helped hide the Russian ownership of a tech firm to avoid sweeping U.S. sanctions – while it secured more than $2 million in sensitive U.S. federal government contracts, according to court documents.
uncertain
it → help → documents
Lee Reiber, 55, was arrested in Idaho last Sunday after federal prosecutors accused him of helping conceal the Russian ownership and development of Oxygen Forensics, a Virginia-based company that sold forensics software to the Secret Service and other federal agencies.
asserted
that → arrest → Service
The U.S. Secret Service confirmed to the California Post that they previously used Oxygen Forensics software but ”immediately discontinued” use in February after security risks were identified by the agency.
asserted
risks → confirm → agency
Reiber, who followed his LAPD officer father into law enforcement, allegedly became the trusted American face of the company as its Russian owners disappeared from public corporate filings following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Justice Department.
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owners → follow → Department
Now, former Oxygen employee-turned-whistleblower Max Weissberg has told The Post how the ex-cop allegedly operated inside a company controlled behind the scenes by Russian nationals – and the chilling series of events that ultimately convinced him something was deeply wrong.
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something → turn → him
Federal prosecutors allege Reiber falsely represented to government agencies that Oxygen had no foreign ownership or control and that its software was developed in the US.
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software → allege → US
In reality, the Justice Department says five Russian nationals owned and controlled Oxygen through a Cyprus-based holding company, while its software was developed by a team in Russia.
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software → say → Russia
One of those alleged owners, Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was charged alongside Reiber and arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport last Sunday.
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One → allege → Airport
U.S. authorities are seeking his extradition.
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authorities → seek → extradition
Other Russians associated with the company included Oleg Fedorov and Galina Rabotenko, according to Weissberg, who provided a picture he took that showed the group at an Alexandria bowling alley.
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that → associate → alley
Reporting from Forbes in 2017 identified Fedorov as Oxygen’s CEO.
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Reporting → report → CEO
The company provided tools and support to Russian law enforcement, the outlet reported, and Fedorov denied connections to Russian intelligence or the government.
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Fedorov → provide → intelligence
”I know every person and every government has its own goals.
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person → know → goals
I try to stay away as far as I can from their goals and to solve my own,” Fedorov told Forbes.
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Fedorov → try → Forbes
”With the history of KGB in Russia, it’s complicated, I want to stay as far as I can from them.”
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I → ’ → them
Reiber was initially hired as the company’s COO in 2015 before becoming CEO, president and chairman in March 2022 — weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine and the U.S. imposed expanded sanctions, according to the Justice Department.
But the Russian owners allegedly remained firmly in control behind the scenes, continuing to make significant decisions, setting Reiber’s compensation, overruling him on payments and maintaining signatory authority over company bank accounts, according to the federal complaint.
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owners → hire → complaint
Weissberg said Reiber, a former Boise cop from 1995 to 2009, had no “final say” on any of the company’s business decisions despite being listed as its CEO since 2022.
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Reiber → say → 2022
Weissberg believed the Russians hired him because he was a trustworthy, clean-cut American figure.
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he → believe → him
The New York Times profiled Reiber in 2006 as a clever cop for his work using cellphone data to help investigate crimes.
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Times → profile → crimes
Weissberg described Reiber, his former boss, as ”not very intellectual” and said he largely kept to himself.
Reiber also often pointed out his history as a minor league baseball player with pride, exaggerating how good he was, according to Weissberg.
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he → describe → Weissberg
The Cincinnati Reds took Reiber, a catcher, out of high school in the 55th round of the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft.
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Reds → take → Draft
He played one year in rookie league baseball and another year in the Frontier League, before falling out of baseball and starting his career in Boise law enforcement.
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He → play → enforcement
Weissberg believed him to be an odd choice for Oxygen because he had no management experience and was not based in Alexandria, but in Idaho.
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he → believe → Idaho
But it made sense for the Russians, he said.
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he → make → Russians
”But as a handsome, former cop far from the big city, he had the trust factor,” Weissberg said.
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Weissberg → have → factor
”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.
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company → be → oversight
Lee is clearly a figurehead, which is what I eye-witnessed as well.”
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I → witness → what
Reiber was reportedly paid handsomely for his position, with prosecutors saying in the criminal complaint he was paid $250,000 for his role as CEO of the company.
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he → pay → company
Weissberg said Reiber’s daughter, Courtney, also worked at Oxygen.
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daughter → say → Oxygen
Prosecutors allege Reiber and Oxygen’s Russian owners understood that public disclosure of the company’s true ownership threatened its lucrative U.S. government business.
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disclosure → allege → business
He wrote in an email to Davydov and two other Russian owners that public reporting on the connection “could destroy this entire opportunity,” in reference to a pending contract with the Secret Service’s National Computer Forensics Institute, and that the “current existence of this company hangs in the balance.”
The institute nevertheless awarded Oxygen a five-year contract in September 2024.
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institute → write → September
The whistleblower told The Post that the higher-ups at the company would only refer to the Russians as the ”Europeans” in an effort to conceal their nationality.
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ups → tell → nationality
He only found out about this when a former head of sales told him about the euphemism, he said.
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he → find → euphemism
Weissberg — who directed Russian action movie ”Karaganda: Red Mafia” which he submitted to the 2024 Moscow Film Festival — later asked Reiber at a staff dinner whether he would ever visit Russia.
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he → direct → Russia
He paused and said something to the effect of: “I can’t go there.
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I → pause → effect
I’m one of the persons they would arrest.
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they → ’m → persons
”
The whistleblower said the question seemed to “almost” give Reiber’s wife a ”heart attack.”
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question → say → attack
Weissberg decided to move on from the company and blow the whistle after what he described as a freak occurrence related to oil company Chevron in October 2025.
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he → decide → October
He said that he overheard an employee of the company brag about how they convinced Chevron to lower its firewall and other security features to install Oxygen’s forensic software.
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they → say → software
A day after the installation, Weissberg said Chevron suffered a major fire at a Californian refinery in El Segundo.
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Chevron → say → Segundo
…and 23 more, not listed.
The Aporia
