Isak Robbers Ordered to Pay Just £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts

Individuals of an Italy-based family of thieves who stole over £1.2m valued of items, among them from ex- Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 per person.

Siblings Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie Jovanovic journeyed to the north-east of the UK to raid multiple homes in spring 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between six and 10 years in May 2025.

At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the Nikolov brothers were ordered to pay back £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Details of the Break-ins

The court was told the gang arrived by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they stationed at Scotch Corner and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and execute burglaries.

On March 31 they stole more than £1m of items including high-end fashion, handbags, jewelry and a CBE medal from a house on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the owners were on holiday.

The next evening, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and took designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's facility for 48 hours, they then struck at the home of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 luxury car.

The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, wore gloves and face coverings, turned their phones off as they neared their targets and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.

Legal Proceedings and Rulings

Valentino Nikolov had denied conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all entered admissions to the same charge.

At the proceeds of crime session, prosecutor the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their crimes to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was based on what the affected parties said they had had stolen.

But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any funds that could be "realised", namely £1,135.50 which had already been seized by police, the court heard, with two weeks to be served in prison if he defaulted.

The other three had no assets or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with seven days in incarceration the result if the money was not paid.

Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with property in the coming years, "for example driving around in Italy in a sports car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the sum due".