Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2m Heists
Individuals of an Italy-based clan of burglars who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.
Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in spring 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Particulars of the Burglaries
The court was told the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while using another car to search for targets and execute burglaries.
On 31 March they took more than one million pounds of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the residents were on holiday.
The next evening, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at more than £100,000.
Following surveillance of Newcastle United's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Swedish player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, stealing ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced touring thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, turned their phones off as they approached their objectives 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 apprehended in the Birmingham on April 13.
Legal Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the identical accusation.
At the proceeds of crime session, 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 victims said they had lost.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one deemed to have any money that could be "realised", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.
The remaining members had no money or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the result if the sum was not submitted.
The judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the future, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or possessing a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".