Alexander Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts
Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who stole more than £1.2m worth of goods, including from former Newcastle United forward Isak, have been mandated to pay back just £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.
The foursome were jailed for from six and 10 years in May 2025.
At a criminal assets proceeding at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela Jovanovic and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Burglaries
The court previously heard the group came by ferry in the UK on March 27, 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and execute thefts.
On March 31 they took over £1m of goods such as high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a CBE medal from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.
The next evening, the gang broke into a home on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than £100,000.
Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, stealing £10,000 in money, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the player's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by the prosecution as professional itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Rulings
Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was convicted by the court, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.
But Charlie was the sole individual found to have any money that could be "realised", specifically over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with two weeks to be served in jail if he defaulted.
The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in incarceration the consequence if the money was not submitted.
The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "for example driving around in Italy in a fast car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".