Individuals of an Italy-based family of burglars who took over £1.2 million valued of items, among them from ex- NUFC striker Alexander Isak, have been mandated to pay back only £1 each.
Siblings Valentino and Giacomo Nikolov, their female sibling Jela and her child Charlie journeyed to the north-east of the UK to raid three houses in April 2024.
The foursome were jailed for between 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.
Particulars of the Burglaries
The court previously heard 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 using a separate vehicle to scout out targets and carry out burglaries.
On 31 March they stole more than £1m of goods including designer clothing, purses, jewelry and a CBE medal from a residence on Clayton Road in Jesmond, Newcastle, while the residents were away.
The following night, the crew entered a house on a gated cul-de-sac in Whitburn, and stole designer handbags, valuables and footwear valued at more than one hundred thousand pounds.
Following surveillance of Newcastle United's facility for two days, they then struck at the home of Sweden striker Mr Isak in Darras Hall on 4 April, taking ten thousand pounds in money, £68,000 worth of jewelry and the striker's £120,000 Audi RS6.
The group, who were portrayed by prosecutors as professional itinerant burglars, used hand coverings and masks, turned their mobile devices on silent as they neared their objectives and attached a license plate, which had been taken from a auto shop in a town, on to their vehicle with rubber straps.
They were arrested in the Birmingham area on 13 April.
Legal Proceedings and Rulings
Valentino Nikolov had pleaded not guilty to the burglary plot but was found guilty by jurors, while his three relations had all submitted guilty pleas to the identical accusation.
At the proceeds of crime session, lawyer the prosecution said every one of the defendants had profited from their offenses 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 sole individual deemed 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 served in prison if he failed to pay.
The remaining members had no money or assets so were ordered to make a token amount of £1 per person, with seven days in prison the result if the sum was not submitted.
Judge Robert Spragg said if they were discovered with assets in the coming years, "for example driving around Italy in a sports car or owning a property", prosecutors could initiate new proceedings to "recover the sum outstanding".
