Isak Robbers Ordered to Repay Just £1 Per Person from £1.2 Million Thefts
Individuals of an Italian family of thieves who took over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back just £1 each.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in spring 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute thefts.
On March 31 they took more than one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.
The following night, the gang entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, valuables and shoes valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on April 4, stealing £10,000 in cash, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the player's £120,000 Audi RS6.
The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and face coverings, turned their mobile devices off as they approached their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.
They were arrested in the Birmingham area on April 13.
Legal Hearings and Sentencing
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.
At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the court heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.
The other three had no money or property so were ordered to pay a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.
The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".