---
title: "DOJ charged a Cellebrite rival with hiding Russian ownership as Cellebrite missed its own ARR forecast"
description: "Federal charges have removed Oxygen Forensics, which prosecutors say was secretly Russian-owned, from a US phone-forensics market Cellebrite leads. The catch: Washington's own permit regime helped break Cellebrite's August forecast, and plaintiffs' firms are asking what management knew."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Policy"
published: 2026-10-11T01:10:41.476Z
modified: 2026-10-11T01:10:41.476Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/doj-charged-a-cellebrite-rival-with-hiding-russian-ownership-as-cellebrite-missed-its-own-arr-forecast
language: en
keywords: "Cellebrite, Oxygen Forensics, DOJ, Phone Forensics, Securities"
---

# DOJ charged a Cellebrite rival with hiding Russian ownership as Cellebrite missed its own ARR forecast

> Federal charges have removed Oxygen Forensics, which prosecutors say was secretly Russian-owned, from a US phone-forensics market Cellebrite leads. The catch: Washington's own permit regime helped break Cellebrite's August forecast, and plaintiffs' firms are asking what management knew.

The Justice Department took one of [Cellebrite](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/cellebrite)'s few serious rivals off the board on September 23, 2026, charging Oxygen Forensics chief executive Lee Reiber and Russian national Oleg Davydov with [conspiracy to commit wire fraud](https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/ceo-of-oxygen-forensics-arrested-and-charged-with-conspiracy-to-commit-wire-fraud/) for allegedly hiding that the Virginia firm was owned and controlled by five Russian nationals through a Cyprus holding company [1][2].

## The field clears

Oxygen's phone-cracking software ran inside the Pentagon, the Secret Service and dozens of US agencies; a former Secret Service agent used it to pull tens of thousands of files from a copy of Hunter Biden's laptop [1]. The Secret Service canceled a five-year Oxygen contract in February 2026 over "security risks," yet the State Department signed a fresh one in August, weeks before the arrests [1]. London's Metropolitan Police has paused the software, and Conservative MP Alicia Kearns [wants "a full audit of every force's use of this software"](https://www.voanews.com/a/british-lawmaker-calls-for-audit-after-u-s-charges-tech-executives-with-concealing-company-s-russian-ownership/8207652.html) [3]. [Cellebrite](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001854587) had made the ownership argument itself: [its 2015 copyright suit against Oxygen](https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-oxygen-software-hack-phone-hunter-biden-laptop/33870622.html) alleged Russian control [1].

## Agencies keep buying

![Screenshot of a Cellebrite forensic readout of an iPhone extraction](https://storage.googleapis.com/theinference-public/img/d80bbabd07fb7d10.jpg)

*What agencies buy: a Cellebrite readout of an iPhone extraction, with device record and evidence sections. (Privateinvestigatorgreensboro, via Wikimedia Commons)*

What remains is a market led by Cellebrite, with Magnet Forensics as chief rival, and agencies keep buying [4]. [ICE has acquired Graykey Preserve](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/10/08/ice-can-break-a-major-apple-security-protection/), a Magnet tool that halts the [Apple](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apple) timer that reboots a locked iPhone after 72 hours; Cellebrite's Inseyets pauses the same countdown for Customs and Border Protection and the Pentagon [4]. Cellebrite counts roughly 7,000 customers, including agencies in all 50 US states and the national police of all 27 EU member states [5].

*Chart: **Twelve quarters of year-over-year growth, and the slowest just landed** Line chart of Cellebrite quarterly revenue from Q3 2023 to Q2 2026, rising from $84M to $131M, with year-over-year growth positive in every quarter and slowest in the latest*

*Quarterly revenue in US$ millions as reported in Cellebrite's SEC filings, Q3 2023 to Q2 2026. Year-over-year growth was positive in all 12 quarters; Q2 2026's 15.8% was the slowest. [12][6]*

## August broke the floor

The inheritance arrived with a broken forecast. On August 13, 2026, Cellebrite [reported second-quarter annual recurring revenue of $507.8M](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CLBTW/earnings/CLBTW-Q2-2026-earnings_call-669133.html), under its own $510M to $513M floor, replaced CEO Tom Hogan with Shiv Ramji the same day, and cut its full-year ARR guide to $550M to $560M, "a reduction of $15 million at the midpoint" [6][7]. Shares fell $4.45, or 29%, to $10.80 [6].

The drag was partly Washington's own paperwork. Chief revenue officer Marcus Jewell said a "foreign entity permit" applied to cloud technology created a four-to-five-week delay, and of more than 1,000 orders the quarter "came down to four" large deals, "and it was four that involved cloud" [7]. Ramji's own verdict: "Pipeline is not performance" [7]. Defense and intelligence ARR still grew 25% [7].

*Chart: **One August cut took $15M off Cellebrite's year-end ARR target** Bar chart comparing Cellebrite's reported ARR of $507.8M at June 30, 2026, with its guided Q3 ARR of $524M to $528M and full-year ARR of $550M to $560M*

*Annual recurring revenue in US$ millions. The June 30 figure is reported; the two guides are ranges stated on the August 13, 2026, earnings call, drawn at their midpoints with the stated ranges. [6][7]*

## Three firms ask what management knew

[Block](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/block) & Leviton, Kaplan Fox and Pomerantz are now probing what management knew, [noting Hogan told investors in May 2026 that the US federal business was "beginning to accelerate"](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/BAC-N/pressreleases/5003226/kaplan-fox-reminds-cellebrite-di-ltd-nasdaq-clbt-investors-of-an-ongoing-securities-law-investigation/) [8][6][9].

## One pool of capital picked a side

Between the charges and the law-firm wave, Pertento Partners, the London investment adviser whose managing partner Eduardo Marques signed the filing, crossed 5%: [a 13G dated October 9, 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1854587/000091957426006851/0000919574-26-006851-index.htm), reports 13,164,696 shares, 5.2% of the company, worth roughly $148M at the October 10 price of $11.26 [10][8]. The stake is certified passive and the filing says nothing about why; the stock sits about 58% below its 2025 high [10][5]. CFO David Barter's planned October 16 sale of 23,497 shares is a mandatory tax-cover arrangement worth about $267,000, not a signal [11].

The next two quarters decide whether incumbency outweighs credibility: whether Oxygen's displaced budget lands in Cellebrite orders, and whether third-quarter ARR clears the $524M to $528M guide [7]. The same government that emptied the shelf put a permit desk in front of the restock.

## Takeaway

The charges that removed Oxygen Forensics from the US phone-forensics market landed in the same season a State Department permit desk slowed Cellebrite's cloud deals and broke its own ARR floor; the third-quarter print against the $524M to $528M guide settles which force mattered.

## Sources

1. [RFE/RL, "Exclusive: Russian Computers, US Phones, Hunter Biden's Laptop, Cracked By Powerful Russian-Made Software. Who's Behind It?", 6 October 2026](https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-us-oxygen-software-hack-phone-hunter-biden-laptop/33870622.html)
2. [US Attorney's Office press release reprinted by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, "CEO of Oxygen Forensics arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud", 23 September 2026](https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/ceo-of-oxygen-forensics-arrested-and-charged-with-conspiracy-to-commit-wire-fraud/)
3. [Voice of America, "British lawmaker calls for audit after U.S. charges tech executives with concealing company's Russian ownership", 4 October 2026](https://www.voanews.com/a/british-lawmaker-calls-for-audit-after-u-s-charges-tech-executives-with-concealing-company-s-russian-ownership/8207652.html)
4. [Forbes, "ICE Just Bought A Hacking Tool Cops Use To Break A Major Apple Security Feature", 8 October 2026](https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2026/10/08/ice-can-break-a-major-apple-security-protection/)
5. [The Motley Fool via Yahoo Finance, "Cellebrite's 2026 Outlook: Subscription Pivot Weighs on the Stock Today, Helps Lead a Future Rebound", 29 September 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/cellebrites-2026-outlook-subscription-pivot-175024294.html)
6. [Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer via The Globe and Mail, "Kaplan Fox Reminds Cellebrite DI Ltd. (NASDAQ: CLBT) Investors of an Ongoing Securities Law Investigation", 7 October 2026](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/markets/stocks/BAC-N/pressreleases/5003226/kaplan-fox-reminds-cellebrite-di-ltd-nasdaq-clbt-investors-of-an-ongoing-securities-law-investigation/)
7. [Cellebrite DI Ltd. Q2 2026 earnings call transcript, Yahoo Finance, 13 August 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/CLBTW/earnings/CLBTW-Q2-2026-earnings_call-669133.html)
8. [Block & Leviton via StreetInsider, "CLBT Investigation: Cellebrite DI Investigated for Securities Fraud by Block & Leviton", 13 August 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Newsfile/CLBT+INVESTIGATION%3A+Cellebrite+DI+Investigated+for+Securities+Fraud+by+Block+%26+Leviton%3B+Investors+Should+Contact+the+Firm+to+Possibly+Recover+Losses/26919503.html)
9. [Pomerantz LLP via PR Newswire, "Investor Alert: Pomerantz Law Firm Investigates Claims On Behalf of Investors of Cellebrite DI Ltd. (CLBT)", 8 October 2026](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/investor-alert-pomerantz-law-firm-investigates-claims-on-behalf-of-investors-of-cellebrite-di-ltd--clbt-302902139.html)
10. [US Securities and Exchange Commission, Schedule 13G, Cellebrite DI Ltd., filed by Pertento Partners LLP, Pertento Advisors LLC and Eduardo Marques, 9 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1854587/000091957426006851/0000919574-26-006851-index.htm)
11. [StockTitan summary of Cellebrite Form 144 filed by CFO David Barter, "Cellebrite CFO plans $267K share sale to cover taxes", 7 October 2026](https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/CLBT/144-cellebrite-di-ltd-sec-filing-4ff063b33d88.html)
12. [Cellebrite, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 10 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001854587)


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DOJ charged a Cellebrite rival with hiding Russian ownership as Cellebrite missed its own ARR forecast — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/doj-charged-a-cellebrite-rival-with-hiding-russian-ownership-as-cellebrite-missed-its-own-arr-forecast