Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Heists
Individuals of an Italy-based clan of thieves who stole more than £1.2m valued of goods, including from former NUFC striker Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the north-east of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in 2025.
At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Break-ins
The court previously heard the gang arrived by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while utilizing another car to scout out properties and carry out thefts.
On 31 March they stole more than one million pounds of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.
The following night, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took luxury bags, valuables and footwear worth over one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for two days, they then acted at the residence of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the player's £120,000 luxury car.
The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, used gloves and masks, turned their phones off as they neared their targets and strapped a number 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 area on 13 April.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.
At the proceeds of crime hearing, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.
But Charlie was the sole individual deemed to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no assets or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the result if the money was not submitted.
The judge Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "such as operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the amount outstanding".