Judge's Questions about the Purchase of Antiques by Defendant No. 1 and the Defendant's Responses

 Defendant No. 1 in the Taravat Novin case: I bought antiques based on personal interest!

The judge asked the first defendant about the purchase and storage of antiques: Where and at what price did you purchase the antiques mentioned in the indictment?

 Defendant: These antiques were bought in Hamadan in 2015.

 Judge: Who procured these antiques for you?

 Defendant: I bought them myself.

 Judge: Do you have knowledge of antiques? What was the reason for purchasing these antiques?

 Defendant: There was no specific reason, I just bought them out of personal interest.

 Judge: Why did you buy these items even though you were unfamiliar with antiques, and now, according to expert opinion, some of them are fake?

 Defendant: Their monetary value wasn’t important to me, I bought them just because of personal interest.

 Judge: Why did you spend the public’s money on this?

Defendant: In this economic process, part of the profit was for the investor, and the rest of the profit belonged to the company. Not all of these items belong to the public; part of the profit from the investment belongs to the company.