Isak Burglars Instructed to Repay Only £1 Each from £1.2 Million Thefts
Individuals of an Italy-based family of burglars who took over £1.2 million worth of items, including from former Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to return only £1 per person.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their sister Jela Jovanovic and her child Charlie journeyed to the north-east of the UK to burgle multiple homes in spring 2024.
The foursome were jailed for from a decade or less in May 2025.
At a criminal assets hearing at Newcastle Crown Court, Jela and the brothers Nikolov were ordered to repay £1 each while Charlie must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Burglaries
The judge previously heard the gang arrived by boat in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024 and employed a RV as their "base of operations", which they stationed at a service area and Durham service rest stops while utilizing a separate vehicle to scout out properties and carry out burglaries.
On March 31 they stole over one million pounds of items including designer clothing, handbags, jewellery and a honor from a residence on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.
The next evening, the crew entered a house on a private road in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
After scouting out the football club's training ground for 48 hours, they then acted at the home of Sweden player Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewelry and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound luxury car.
The gang, who were described by prosecutors as professional itinerant thieves, used hand coverings and face coverings, switched their phones on silent as they approached their targets and strapped a number plate, which had been taken 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 Proceedings and Sentencing
Valentino had denied conspiracy to burglary but was convicted by jurors, while his family members had all entered guilty pleas to the same charge.
At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses to the value of £1,266,285.93, which was determined by what the affected parties said they had lost.
But Charlie was the only one deemed to have any funds that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge heard, with 14 days to be served in jail if he failed to pay.
The remaining members had no assets or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with one week in prison the consequence if the sum was not paid.
The judge Spragg said if they were discovered with property in the future, "such as operating Italy in a sports car or possessing a property", prosecutors could seek further action to "satisfy the sum outstanding".
