Alexander Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2m Thefts
Individuals of an Italian family of burglars who stole more than £1.2 million valued of items, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return only £1 each.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie travelled to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in April 2024.
The group of four were jailed for from a decade or less in May 2025.
At a proceeds of crime hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were instructed to pay back £1 each while Charlie must hand over £1,135.
Particulars of the Break-ins
The judge was told the group came by boat in the UK on March 27, 2024 and used a campervan as their "headquarters", which they parked at Scotch Corner and Durham rest stops while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and carry out burglaries.
On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of goods including high-end fashion, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were away.
The next evening, the gang entered a home on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then acted at the residence of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking £10,000 in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.
The group, who were described by the prosecution as professional itinerant burglars, wore gloves and masks, switched their phones on silent as they approached their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in Chester-le-Street, on to their car with rubber straps.
They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.
Court Hearings and Rulings
Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains hearing, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the burglars had profited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was based on what the victims said they had lost.
But Charlie was the only one found to have any money that could be "realised", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court was informed, with 14 days to be served in jail if he defaulted.
The remaining members had no money or assets so were directed to make a token amount of £1 per person, with seven days in incarceration the consequence if the sum was not paid.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a property", the prosecution could seek new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".