Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Thefts
Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who took more than £1.2 million worth of goods, among them from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 each.
Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the northeastern of England to burgle three houses in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for from six and 10 years in 2025.
At a criminal assets proceeding at the court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Burglaries
The court was told the group arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute burglaries.
On March 31 they took over one million pounds of goods such as designer clothing, purses, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were away.
The following night, the crew broke into a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, valuables and footwear worth over £100,000.
After scouting out Newcastle United's facility for 48 hours, they then acted at the residence of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on April 4, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.
The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones off as they neared their objectives and strapped 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 area on April 13.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all entered admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the burglars had benefited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.
But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by police, the court was informed, with two weeks to be spent in prison if he defaulted.
The remaining members had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not submitted.
The judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate further action to "recover the sum due".
