Isak Robbers Instructed to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2m Thefts
Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who stole over £1.2m valued of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.
The group of four were jailed for from six and 10 years in 2025.
At a proceeds of crime proceeding at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay £1,135.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The judge was told the gang came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while using a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute thefts.
On March 31 they took more than £1m of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were on holiday.
The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced itinerant thieves, used gloves and masks, switched their phones off as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Sentencing
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his family members had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.
At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had lost.
But Charlie was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent 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 consequence if the money was not submitted.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek further action to "recover the sum outstanding".