Ivan Nikolayevich Karnilin was born in the village of Krasnoe, Sechenovsky District, Gorky Region.

Since 1978, he worked at the plant "Heat exchanger" as a technologist and head of tool shop 42.

Nizhny Novgorod Insurance Company GRANIT LLC was excluded from Incorporation on August 11, 2016.

In 2010, he was elected to the City Council of the 5th convocation, where he worked as a member of the standing committee on budget, financial and tax policy.

In December 2016 opposition leader Alexei Navalny posted a video of an investigation, the hero of which became Ivan Karnilin.

As it turned out, his wife purchased in 2013 and 2014 two apartments in Miami, for a total amount of almost US$2 million.