Isak Burglars Instructed to Repay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts
Members of an Italy-based family of thieves who took over £1.2 million valued of goods, including from ex- NUFC forward Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their sister Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the northeastern of England to raid three houses in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.
At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to pay back £1 per person while Charlie must pay over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Burglaries
The judge was told the group arrived by ferry in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham service stations while using a separate vehicle to search for targets and carry out thefts.
On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.
The following night, the crew broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, valuables and shoes worth over one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Swedish player Mr Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The gang, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their mobile devices off as they neared their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.
They were apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.
At the proceeds of crime hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "recovered", namely over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no assets or property so were directed to pay a nominal fee of £1 per person, with one week in incarceration the result if the sum was not submitted.
The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the future, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or possessing a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".