U.S. Justice Department Alleges Phone-Hacking Company Hid Russian Ownership to Secure Government Contracts
The U.S. Justice Department has announced the arrest of two leaders of Oxygen Forensics, a phone-hacking company, on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Lee Reiber, CEO of Oxygen Forensics (Oxygen US), was arrested in Idaho, while Oleg Davydov, one of five Russian nationals allegedly controlling the company, was arrested in London, with extradition to the U.S. planned. The DOJ alleges that the company concealed its Russian ownership from U.S. government agencies, including the Defense Department and Department of Homeland Security, to secure millions of dollars in contracts. Publicly, Oxygen Forensics presented Reiber as the true leader of its Alexandria, Virginia-based entity, asserting U.S. ownership. However, Russian officials within the company reportedly overruled Reiber on key decisions. Following expanded U.S. sanctions against Russia in 2022 due to the invasion of Ukraine, Oxygen Forensics installed Reiber as CEO and removed the Russian owners from public corporate filings to maintain the f...
