Alexander Isak Burglars Instructed to Pay Only £1 Each from £1.2m Thefts
Individuals of an Italian clan of thieves who stole over £1.2m worth of goods, among them from former Newcastle United forward Alexander Isak, have been ordered to pay back just £1 each.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo, their female sibling Jela Jovanovic and her son Charlie Jovanovic travelled to the northeastern of England 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 brothers Nikolov were instructed to repay £1 each while Charlie Jovanovic must hand over over a thousand pounds.
Details of the Break-ins
The court previously heard the gang came by boat in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2024 and used a campervan as their "base of operations", which they parked at a service area and Durham rest stops while utilizing another car to scout out targets and execute burglaries.
On March 31 they took more than £1m of items such as high-end fashion, purses, jewellery and a honor from a house on a street in Jesmond, while the owners were on holiday.
The following night, the crew entered a home on a private road in Whitburn, South Tyneside, and stole designer handbags, jewellery and footwear worth more than £100,000.
Following surveillance of the football club's training ground for two days, they then acted at the home of Sweden striker Alexander Isak in Darras Hall, Ponteland on 4 April, stealing ten thousand pounds in cash, sixty-eight thousand pounds worth of jewellery and the striker's one hundred twenty thousand pound Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as experienced touring thieves, used gloves and face coverings, turned their phones off as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been stolen from a auto shop in Chester-le-Street, on to their vehicle with elastic bands.
They were arrested in the Birmingham on 13 April.
Legal Hearings and Rulings
Valentino had pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to burglary but was found guilty by jurors, while his family members had all entered admissions to the same charge.
At the criminal gains session, lawyer Daniel Cordey said each of the burglars had benefited from their crimes to the value of over £1.2 million, which was determined by what the victims said they had had stolen.
But Charlie Jovanovic was the only one found to have any money that could be "realised", namely over a thousand pounds which had already been seized by police, the judge was informed, with two weeks to be spent in jail if he defaulted.
The other three had no money or property so were directed to make a token amount of £1 each, with seven days in prison the consequence if the money was not paid.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were found with assets in the coming years, "such as operating in Italy in a sports car or possessing a home", the prosecution could initiate new proceedings to "satisfy the sum due".