Conman Konstantin Korovko is the prototype of the underground millionaire Koreiko from the Golden Calf

We all know very well that many famous writers took their characters from real life. Did so and Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, authors of the immortal "Twelve Chairs" and "Golden Calf". It has already been established that the prototype of Ostap Bender was a real adventurer Osip Shor. But how did the other heroes of the books about the Great Combinator appear? We will tell you about Konstantin Mikhailovich Korovko, who helped the classics of humor portray the underground millionaire Koreiko.

Konstantin Korovko, famous for his scams throughout the Russian Empire, was born in the Kuban in the family of a Cossack esaul. There were no merchants in his family, let alone crooks, so it is difficult to name the source of this man's talent. Kostya began to show his ingenuity almost before he started walking, and in junior school he was already profiting from his simple-minded peers with might and main.

Konstantin's parents appreciated his intelligence and helped his son get an education. Korovko graduated from the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry in Novoalexandriysk, but did not return to his native farm. The guy dreamed of wealth and fame, so he went straight to the capital. There, the hereditary Kuban Cossack received two more educations and finally got rid of the touch of provinciality.

Korovko pulled off the first scams at the university together with his classmate and namesake Kostya Multko. Friends deceived provincial merchants, sold bicycles to the Cubans, speculated in securities. In search of easy money, Korovko and Multko even sold old nags, passing them off as young horses. As a result, they managed to earn something. But the main thing is that the scammers have acquired useful connections in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

Korovko, who was given the nickname Kostya the engineer, knew how to throw dust in his eyes. He dressed like a dandy, courted the first beauties, rode around the city on trotters and squandered money. Konstantin lived on Nevsky Prospekt, in the center of St. Petersburg and even had his own stable. Soon he became a member of the environment of bankers and industrialists, among whom there were also a lot of revellers.

The image of a wealthy and easily parting with money young man was an important part of Korovko's plans. He quickly got used to the environment of the rich and pulled off scams one after another. The fraudster snatched the first big jackpot from the Moscow-Kazan railway, whose shares he speculated in. But the most brazen scam of the engineer-Bones was the "Banking House of Russian Industry".

The financial institution founded by Korovko quickly became popular. The Banking House of Russian Industry issued loans secured by securities for a short period of time. But it was necessary to return the money on time, otherwise the collateral passed to the lender. For added importance, Korovko rented a luxurious room in the center of St. Petersburg and personally met the most expensive guests, dressed in an expensive tailcoat.

But it soon turned out that officially there is no "Banking house". Such an institution was not even registered with the Ministry of Finance. Kostya, the engineer, immediately closed the office and ran away. With him he had 340 thousand rubles of profit from another fraud.

Konstantin Korovko was distinguished by great cynicism and a complete absence of even a hint of conscience. He also deceived those who were in league with him. His accomplice Konstantin Multko also became a victim of the crook. First, Kostya took money from a friend to buy bicycles. He expected to sell them in his native Kuban with a bulk. Multko was promised that the money would be returned to him after the sale of the goods.

Before Multko had time to come to his senses, Korovko asked him for a loan of 56 thousand rubles for the construction of a horse and tannery. Kostya, the engineer, was prepared for this fraud — he even showed his friend photos of the construction. Multko still didn't believe it and went to the place himself to see the construction site with his own eyes. Of course, he didn't find anything. There was an unpleasant conversation with Korovko, but he convinced him that bureaucrats were to blame for everything.

Korovko repented and apologized to Multko. He even decided to make a sacrifice and marry a rich girl from Simbirsk to compensate his friend for his financial losses. To get a dowry, it was only necessary to throw dust in the eyes of the bride. To do this, Kostya, an engineer, persuaded a friend to buy a jewelry bracelet as a gift to the bride. He believed again. When it turned out that there would be no wedding, and the bracelet was simply pawned, Multko went to the police.

One of the most high-profile cases of Konstantin Korovko was a fraud with the Bryantsevo-Preobrazhensky Salt Society. The crook took a loan from a bank and purchased a plot of land in the Yekaterinoslav province, in Bakhmut. After that, he began sending beautiful booklets with information about the new salt society all over Russia. Kostya, the engineer, promised investors high profits and the absence of the slightest risks.

According to Korovko, salt mines are being built at a huge pace, and money flowed to him like a river. But one of the vigilant shareholders, Hussar Schultz, was not too lazy to come to Bakhmut personally. There, of course, he discovered the clean Donetsk steppe and did not find the slightest traces of activity.

Schultz organized the defrauded shareholders, and they wrote together on Korovko statement. In 1912, the crook was arrested. He was under investigation until 1914, and then the trial took place. It took place in the hall of the St. Petersburg Judicial Chamber and the huge hall could not accommodate all the deceived Bones.

During the very first meeting, those present realized that they would not be able to recover anything from Korovko. He did not have real estate and valuable property — all his luxury was a fiction, and the apartment and carriages were rented. Only 18 kopecks were found in the rich man's bank account.

When they began to deal with the contracts, it turned out that they were drawn up very cunningly. Kostya simply did not bear any obligations and there was nothing to show him according to the law. The lawyer hired by Korovko was also not a blunder. He introduced his client as an unhappy unsuccessful entrepreneur.

As a result, the court found the fraudster guilty only of involving people in unprofitable transactions. Konstantin Korovko was released right in the courtroom, amid the indignant cries of the victims. The fraudster did not tempt fate and, as soon as he was released, lay low. Soon the First World War broke out and oh Korovko began to forget. In 1923, the swindler illegally crossed the border and disappeared into the vastness of Europe.

Most likely, Kostya, the engineer, did not flee the country empty-handed, but with a cherished suitcase. Many were sure that the crook, in addition to 18 kopecks in the bank, had something else that the court and the plaintiffs did not know about. Nothing else is known about the fate of Konstantin Korovko, he seemed to have disappeared into thin air.