Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2m Heists
Members of an Italian clan of burglars who took more than £1.2m valued of items, including from ex- NUFC forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie travelled to the northeastern of England to raid three houses in April 2024.
The group of four were jailed for between a decade or less in 2025.
At a criminal assets proceeding 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 Break-ins
The court was told the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV 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 burglaries.
On March 31 they took over one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a honor from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.
The following night, the gang broke into a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, jewellery and footwear worth more than £100,000.
After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then struck at the residence of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds valued of jewelry and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional touring thieves, wore hand coverings and face coverings, switched their mobile devices off as they neared their targets and strapped a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their car with elastic bands.
They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on 13 April.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino Nikolov had denied the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all submitted admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants 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 found to have any money that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be served in jail if he failed to pay.
The other three had no assets or assets so were directed to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "for example operating Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "recover the amount outstanding".