How all-American ex-cop turned into Russian spy before outrageous plot hoodwinked the US Secret Service

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.

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.

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.

Authorities arrested Lee Reiber, 55, this past Sunday on charges that he lied to the Secret Service and other government agencies about his secret Russian bosses at a forensics company allegedly based in Alexandria, Virginia. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

His bosses included Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, who was charged by prosecutors, and several others who remain at large, including Oleg Fedorov and Galina Rabotenko, according to whistleblower Max Weissberg. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

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.

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.

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.

His bosses included Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, who was charged by prosecutors, and several others who remain at large, including Oleg Fedorov and Galina Rabotenko, according to whistleblower Max Weissberg. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

Weissberg, a former employee with Oxygen, exclusively spoke with The Post about Reiber and his experience at the company. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

The Cincinnati Reds took Reiber, a catcher, out of high school in the 55th round of the 1989 MLB June Amateur Draft. He played one year in rookie league baseball, the lowest level of the minor leagues, and had a batting average of just .183 in 134 at-bats. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

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.

One of those alleged owners, Russian national Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, 52, was charged alongside Reiber and arrested at London’s Heathrow Airport last Sunday. U.S. authorities are seeking his 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.

Reporting from Forbes in 2017 identified Fedorov as Oxygen’s CEO. The company provided tools and support to Russian law enforcement, the outlet reported, and Fedorov denied connections to Russian intelligence or the government.

”I know every person and every government has its own goals. I try to stay away as far as I can from their goals and to solve my own,” Fedorov told Forbes.

”With the history of KGB in Russia, it’s complicated, I want to stay as far as I can from them.”

The future Oxygen CEO played another year in the Frontier League, batting an even worse .176 before falling out of baseball and starting his career in Boise law enforcement. Amazon

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.

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.

Weissberg believed the Russians hired him because he was a trustworthy, clean-cut American figure. The New York Times profiled Reiber in 2006 as a clever cop for his work using cellphone data to help investigate 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.

Reiber and the Russians understood that any American knowledge of the company’s true ownership would tank any opportunities, prosecutors said. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

The Cincinnati Reds took Reiber, a catcher, out of high school in the 55th round of the 1989 MLB June Amateur 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.

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. But it made sense for the Russians, he said.

”But as a handsome, former cop far from the big city, he had the trust factor,” Weissberg said.

”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.”

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. Weissberg said Reiber’s daughter, Courtney, also worked at 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.

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.

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. He only found out about this when a former head of sales told him about the euphemism, he said.

The Russian government learned about his position at Oxygen, decided to promote him to be a jury member at the film festival, and offered him special benefits like paying for part of his hotel stay. Courtesy of Max Weissberg

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.

He paused and said something to the effect of: “I can’t go there. I’m one of the persons they would arrest.”

The whistleblower said the question seemed to “almost” give Reiber’s wife a ”heart 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.

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.

A day after the installation, Weissberg said Chevron suffered a major fire at a Californian refinery in El Segundo.

Weissberg said the timing made him question whether the Oxygen installation and the fire could somehow have been connected.

Oxygen’s CEO continued at the company as federal investigators began catching on

However, he provided no evidence establishing such a link, and the Justice Department’s complaint does not accuse Oxygen’s software of causing the Chevron fire.

The DOJ also explicitly says its criminal complaint does not allege Oxygen software contained malicious code or was used to gain unauthorized access to customers’ computer systems or data.

Oxygen’s CEO continued at the company as federal investigators began catching on.

Prosecutors said Reiber spoke with undercover agents posing as Department of Homeland Security personnel in March of this year and told them that no Russian person had control or interest in the company and that no Russians took part in developing their software.

He then posted a statement on the Oxygen website claiming the same.

Federal investigators allege the opposite, saying Oxygen’s software was written and managed by a team working in Russia under Davydov’s direction.

The company’s website has since been seized.

Reiber also claimed in a defamation lawsuit filed against Weissberg last month — after he went public with his claims that the company had Russian bosses — that Oxygen “does not have employees, contractors, or suppliers in Russia.”

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. Pictured is the refinery in El Segundo, California Jonathan Alcorn For CA Post

He also added that the company does not sell its products in Russia and is not controlled by the Russian government.

Officials arrested Reiber in Idaho, where he worked as the company’s CEO remotely, on Sunday.

The CEO managed to obtain more than $2 million in contracts from the U.S. government for forensic software, prosecutors said, before he was arrested.

The federal agencies identified in the complaint include the Department of War and three components of the Department of Homeland Security: the Secret Service and its National Computer Forensics Institute, Homeland Security Investigations and the DHS Office of Inspector General.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service said there was ”no evidence” sensitive information was compromised and it was used exclusively in ”air-gapped environments.”

“The U.S. Secret Service uses a variety of forensic tools to conduct its investigative mission,” they told The Post.

“When using external programs, the agency takes cybersecurity very seriously and is committed to protecting sensitive information,” the agency added. 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.”

If convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, Reiber faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

Reiber is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles federal court in the coming weeks. U.S. authorities are seeking Davydov’s extradition from Britain after his arrest at Heathrow Airport.

The criminal complaint contains allegations, and Reiber and Davydov are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The California Post reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters