Isak Robbers Instructed to Pay Just £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts
Individuals of an Italy-based family of burglars who took more than £1.2m valued of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Isak, have been ordered to pay back only £1 per person.
Brothers Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie travelled to the northeastern of England to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.
The group of four were jailed for from a decade or less in 2025.
At a proceeds of crime hearing at the court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 per person while Charlie Jovanovic must pay £1,135.
Details of the Burglaries
The judge previously heard the group came by ferry in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a RV as their "headquarters", which they parked at a service area and Durham service service stations while using a separate vehicle to search for properties and execute thefts.
On March 31 they stole more than one million pounds of goods including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were away.
The following night, the gang entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and took designer handbags, jewellery and shoes worth over £100,000.
Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the residence of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in cash, £68,000 valued of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.
The gang, who were portrayed by the prosecution as experienced itinerant thieves, wore hand coverings and masks, turned their phones on silent as they approached their targets and attached a number plate, which had been stolen from a garage in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.
They were apprehended in the Birmingham on 13 April.
Court Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino 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 hearing, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had benefited 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 sole individual found to have any money that could be "recovered", specifically £1,135.50 which had already been seized by authorities, the judge heard, with 14 days to be spent in prison if he failed to pay.
The remaining members had no money or property so were ordered to make a nominal fee of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as operating Italy in a fast car or owning a home", the prosecution could initiate further action to "recover the amount due".
