Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts
Members of an Italy-based family of thieves who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, including from ex- Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.
Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the north-east of England to burgle three houses in spring 2024.
The group of four were jailed for from a decade or less in 2025.
At a proceeds of crime proceeding at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to pay back £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over £1,135.
Details of the Break-ins
The judge was told the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and carry out thefts.
On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.
The next evening, the crew entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional touring burglars, used hand coverings and masks, switched their phones off as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.
They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.
At the criminal gains session, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had lost.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by authorities, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in jail if he failed to pay.
The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum due".
