Isak Burglars Ordered to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2m Thefts
Members of an Italy-based clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2 million worth of goods, among them from ex- Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for from six and 10 years in 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Burglaries
The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute thefts.
On 31 March they stole more than one million pounds of items such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.
The next evening, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out the football club's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.
The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore gloves and masks, switched their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with elastic bands.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Sentencing
Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.
At the criminal gains hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said each of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the amount of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.
But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the court was informed, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the result if the money was not submitted.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum due".