Isak Burglars Ordered to Pay Only £1 Per Person from £1.2m Heists

Members of an Italy-based clan of burglars who took over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from ex- NUFC forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to return just £1 per person.

Brothers Valentino Nikolov and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela and her son Charlie travelled to the northeastern of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.

The foursome were jailed for between 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 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.

Particulars of the Break-ins

The judge was told the gang came by boat in the UK on 27 March 2024 and employed a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while utilizing a separate vehicle to search for targets and execute burglaries.

On 31 March they stole more than £1m of items such as designer clothing, handbags, jewelry and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.

The following night, the gang entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole luxury bags, valuables and shoes valued at over one hundred thousand pounds.

Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.

The gang, who were described by prosecutors as experienced itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices off as they approached their objectives and attached a number plate, which had been taken from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.

They were apprehended in the Birmingham area on April 13.

Court Proceedings and Sentencing

Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by the court, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the identical accusation.

At the criminal gains session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited from their offenses to the amount 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 funds that could be "recovered", specifically over a thousand pounds which had previously been confiscated by authorities, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be served in jail if he failed to pay.

The remaining members had no money or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the result if the money was not submitted.

Judge Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "such as driving around Italy in a fast car or owning a home", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".