Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Heists
Members of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2m worth of items, among them from former NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.
Brothers Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie journeyed to the northeastern of the UK to burgle three houses in April 2024.
The group of four were imprisoned for between a decade or less in 2025.
At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Burglaries
The judge was told the group arrived by ferry 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 service stations while utilizing another car to scout out targets and carry out thefts.
On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.
The following night, the crew broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and shoes valued at over £100,000.
After scouting out the football club's training ground for two days, they then struck at the home of Swedish striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.
The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they approached their targets and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in a town, on to their car with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on April 13.
Legal Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the same charge.
At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.
But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court was informed, with 14 days to be served in prison if he defaulted.
The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to pay a nominal fee 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 fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the amount outstanding".
