For which the legendary swindler Vanka Sly, who lived for 100 years, received 93 years in prison

2023 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 05:58

Under the USSR, there were both thieves and bandits. There is one among them, which was considered the most incorrigible in the entire period of Soviet forensic history. This is Ivan Petrov, who bore the nickname Vanka Sly. The criminal had a flexible mind and special abilities that allowed him to deceive people and carry out grandiose scams. Fortunately, in all his life of crime, Sly has never shed human blood. Read in the material about the life and criminal "exploits" of Ivan Petrov.

Vanka Sly, who had a myriad of surnames

Fraudster Ivan Petrov was born in 1900 in the small village of Pasynkovo (Kalinin region). Fate gave the criminal a long life - he lived for a hundred years, and during this time received a sentence of imprisonment for a total of 93 years. The first interrogation of Vanka took place in 1916, at the police station. He said that he first broke the law when he was only ten years old. This is how his criminal life began, during which he was repeatedly caught stealing. But Ivan received his first real term in 1925. Today it is difficult to say whether the punishment was harsh. But there are protocols from which it is clear that Sly was tried the next time in 1927. After that, he was arrested 11 more times, until 1972, and he always appeared before the law under different names.

The courts passed sentences to Guskov and Abdershin, Butyugin and Avin, Dyachkov and Denisov, Kokora and Zhivoi, Serebryakov, Kireev and Tarasov - these were the pseudonyms of Sly, and there are at least fourteen of them. In 1931, the criminal was exiled to Solovki, to a camp, but he made a daring escape. Three years later, the criminal was sentenced to execution in accordance with the decree on the protection of property of state-owned enterprises, collective farms and cooperatives. But the swindler was lucky, and the punishment was changed to imprisonment in a camp for ten years. From there Vanka was transferred to a penal company. In 1944. During the fighting, Ivan was wounded and was released, since it was believed that he completely atoned for his guilt with blood. Some biographers believe that this information is not very true.

Godfather of Soviet resorts

Vanka Sly always worked alone and was not a member of groups and gangs. In 1960, he came up with the idea that it is possible to combine ongoing theft and card scams. In fact, he became the godfather of resort card fraudsters and enjoyed great authority. Basically, he carried out his scams in Sochi, less often in Yalta and Batumi, and always during the summer vacation season. Due to the huge winnings, Sly lived like a padish in the best hotel rooms, ate only in the most expensive elite restaurants, and traveled all over the country without fear.

It was in Sochi that Petrov came up with the idea to steal the Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor of the USSR in order to take advantage of the benefits and increase his authority. The victim was Vladimir Kolyabko. Ivan made his way into his hotel room and announced that they knew each other. He insisted that their meeting took place at a session of the Supreme Council, and that they even drank champagne for me in the buffet. Kolyabko did not remember such events, but he was confused and said that he remembered such facts. The cunning one was polite and even invited the gullible person to visit, after which he quickly left. However, the expensive suit and the Gold Star of the Hero of Socialist Labor "left" with him. After that, there were still similar thefts, but during the appeal to law enforcement agencies, the victims were forced to be content with formal replies, which said that the crime committed could not be attributed to acts of high public danger, therefore, a criminal case would not be initiated.

The Dentist Kushner Jacket Fraud

So Vanka Sly lived, robbing people and spending money on himself. There was a case when he almost robbed a popular dentist from Moscow, Kushner. He went to the Berezka currency store and wanted to buy a jacket, but could not choose a model. Sly, well-dressed, with a Hero's Star on his jacket, he turned to Kushner and introduced himself as an employee of the Ministry of Light Industry. Vanka pointed to one of the jackets and said that this particular style is now very popular in Italy. The dentist believed it, went with the swindler to the fitting booth, and left his old jacket full of money and certificates in the hall. When the dentist came to his senses, Sly had already fled from the store with his jacket.

Fortunately, he did not go far - he was caught and taken to the police. It was there that it turned out that the medal and the certificate relying on her belonged to different people, and the star herself was on the wanted list. But the criminal shouted that it was a mistake, and if necessary, he would bring the necessary papers. The militiamen decided to check his words, and, taking the prisoner, they rushed to the address named by the fraudster. Time of the trip Sly imitated loss of consciousness, and he had to be taken back to the duty unit. While they were waiting for an ambulance, Tricky managed to escape.

Pulling his son into criminal networks

In 1972, Vanka Sly fell into the hands of the police for the last time. He received 10 years in prison. Investigators of the city of Sochi collected a mass of evidence of his criminal activities, they transferred operational information to Moscow, and Moscow colleagues detained the swindler when he was steaming in Sanduny. This year Sly used the surname Avin. He introduced himself as an officer of the State Security Committee, a deputy of the Supreme Council, a war veteran and invalid, an aviation general and even a foreign spy. Hundreds of Soviet citizens were deceived by this man.

When the investigation began, it turned out that under the name Denisov, the criminal had secured a two-room apartment for him in an expensive cooperative, in the very center of the capital. To pull this off, he used fake documents, but worst of all, he involved his own son in the crime. In general, Sly had three children. One of them is Evgeny Petrov, who works as a commentator on the Propaganda editorial board of the All-Union Radio. It was his father who blackmailed and forced him to participate in criminal acts. When Eugene was 16 years old, his father told him the whole truth about herself and forbade him to tell anyone about it, so as not to ruin his life and career. When the man began to confidently climb the career ladder, Sly began to blackmail him by telling everyone who his father is. Eugene succumbed to blackmail and helped his father prepare forged documents, as well as write a letter to Brezhnev. The result was the acquisition of elite housing in Moscow.