British lawmaker calls for audit after U.S. charges tech executives with concealing company's Russian ownership

Alexandria, Virginia — Editor's note: this story was translated from two original VOA Russian articles that were combined [article 1, article 2].

A British lawmaker called for an audit of U.K. police forces’ use of Russian-developed software after U.S. authorities filed a criminal complaint accusing two Oxygen Forensics executives of conspiring to conceal the Virginia-based company’s Russian ownership and the Russian development of software sold to U.S. government agencies.

The call came after Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that London’s Metropolitical police paused its use of the company’s software in light of the charges filed by U.S. authorities.

“Our Police should not be using equipment developed by Kremlin-linked firms,” Conservative lawmaker Alicia Kearns said Thursday in a post on X.

Kearns urged the Home Office, British Department responsible for internal affairs, to order a “full audit of every force’s use of this software.”

Lee Reiber, CEO of Oxygen Forensics, which develops digital forensic software used to extract and analyze data from electronic devices, and Oleg Sergeyevich Davydov, a Russian national whom U.S. authorities say is one of the company’s owners, were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The complaint was publicly announced September 23.

Reiber and Davydov were arrested separately on September 20 — Reiber in Idaho and Davydov at London’s Heathrow Airport.

Reiber, a U.S. citizen, was released on bond. The U.S. Justice Department is seeking Davydov’s extradition from Britain. Davydov appeared before London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was denied bail.

“Reiber and Davydov, together with others, conspired to commit wire fraud, namely, to obtain money and property from the U.S. government customers by falsely representing, by means of interstate and foreign wires, that Oxygen US was not owned or controlled by any foreign persons or entities, and that the Forensic Software was developed in the United States,” the criminal complaint says.

According to the Justice Department, Oxygen Forensics sold its digital forensic software to customers around the world, including U.S. government agencies. The software can be used to extract and analyze data from mobile phones and other electronic devices.

Prosecutors say Oxygen Forensics presented itself as an American company that was not under foreign ownership or control. Investigators contend that the company was instead owned and controlled by Russian nationals and that its software was developed in Russia.

Attorneys for Reiber and Davydov have not publicly commented on the charges.

Former employee says he raised concerns

A former Oxygen Forensics employee told VOA that he had previously alerted U.S. authorities to what he described as the company’s ties to Russia. VOA has not independently verified his account.

Max Weissberg, who worked at the company’s office in Alexandria, Virginia, said that within several months of joining Oxygen Forensics in 2023, he learned that people in Russia played a significant role in the company’s operations.

“I was one of the few people they trusted and who could work with the Russians. I speak Russian fluently, so I gained their trust very quickly,” Weissberg said.

Weissberg, who worked as a marketing campaign specialist, said he communicated with Davydov and other people working for the company who were based in Russia.

He said that in 2025, he was asked to use the company’s software to prepare material for its blog. According to Weissberg, the software retrieved seven passwords from a company computer within seconds.

Weissberg said the experience raised concerns for him about the software’s ability to retrieve stored credentials and potentially gain access to sensitive or otherwise protected data.

“It was difficult for me to wake up every day knowing that you were deceiving people and effectively helping the enemy. I didn’t want to do that job anymore,” Weissberg said.

After he left the company, Weissberg said, Oxygen Forensics filed two lawsuits against him. One accused him of breaching his employment agreement by failing to return company computers; the other accused him of defamation and tortious interference with the company’s business relationships.

Weissberg contends that the lawsuits were intended to silence him.

Legal implications

The Justice Department’s criminal complaint refers to other alleged co-conspirators, some of whom are outside the United States.

Legal expert Igor Slabyh told VOA that additional defendants could face charges if U.S. authorities identify co-conspirators in countries from which extradition to the United States is possible.

“Russia does not extradite its citizens. If these people remain in Russia, I don’t think they will be prosecuted. But if U.S. law enforcement finds that these alleged co-conspirators are, for example, in Europe or in Asian countries that extradite people to the United States, then it is quite possible that additional charges could be brought along with extradition requests,” Slabyh said.

According to Slabyh, a central issue in the case is the alleged concealment of the software’s origins.

“This is a serious case because the charge is not simply fraud. It is [a] conspiracy to commit fraud,” he said.