NESTLED in a snow-capped Alpine valley, the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana appears to be picture perfect.
But the deaths of 40 people in an unimaginable inferno during a New Year’s celebration in the tourist town has revealed a darker side of the wealthy European nation.
This week several disturbing rumours have emerged about the owners of the Le Constellation bar where so many youngsters lost their lives.
If true, the information may well help the bereaved families to find answers as to how a country known for its low crime, clean streets and clockwork public services could have allowed a fire to spread so quickly with such devastating consequences.
Jacques and Jessica Moretti, who transformed Le Constellation into a trendy bar in 2015, are facing difficult questions about their actions before, during and after the fire in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
The “deathtrap” venue only had three safety checks over the past decade and there’s been no explanation as to why apparently highly flammable sound-proofing was allowed to stay on the ceiling.
On Friday, Jacques, 49, was arrested after being deemed a “flight risk”, while earlier in the week, footage emerged of Jessica, 40, who was injured in the blaze, seemingly taking cash from the till as the inferno started, rather than focusing on the safety of her customers.
Also, while the emergency was still going on, someone removed social media images of the bar from the internet, which could have provided important evidence about what went on.
In the aftermath, journalists asking questions at the couple’s other two businesses in Crans Montana claim they have been attacked and threatened.
Jacques, 49, reportedly has previous convictions related to kidnap, fraud, false imprisonment and prostitution.
Investigators believe that Jacques moved to Switzerland from his native France to “try and escape his criminal past”.
A source working on the inquiry into the lethal fire, which also injured 119 people, told The Sun: “He was always in trouble with the law in France, and a new life in Switzerland seemed a solution.
“He and his wife moved here in 2015, and appeared to have plenty of money to start again. The problem is that nobody is quite sure where it came from.”
According to one of the lawyers representing some of the victims of the blaze, the Morettis bought £2.7million worth of property in Crans-Montana in cash and are paying £37,000 a month in rent in cash.
Images of the couple show them living the high life in the chic town, which has upmarket boutiques selling Rolex watches and Louis Vuitton clothing.
Sordid connections
But Switzerland’s veneer of respectability is as thin as a dusting of snow.
It has a reputation for welcoming the super wealthy, while not asking too many questions about their income stream.
Unlike France, it does not have a specialist money-laundering unit, so the Morettis were left to invest without serious scrutiny, said the source.
Few people in the resort seemed to know about Jacques’s past, allegedly connected to an erotic massage parlour in Geneva called The Hot Rabbit.
He was linked to the vice trade in Annecy, France, in 2008 following a trial for offences going back to 2005.
Sex work is legal in Switzerland, but in France it is illegal to transport people for the means of prostitution.
He was always in trouble with the law in France, and a new life in Switzerland seemed a solution
Inquiry source
He admitted managing the Hot Rabbit for three months, although his defence was that the women had gone to work there “voluntarily.”
Moretti was sentenced to 12 months in prison for “inciting” prostitution, but eight of them were suspended.
Jael Schwendimann, the operative leader of the Heartwings charity in Switzerland, which helps protect female sex workers, says that such convictions are “unusual”.
She tells The Sun: “The police don’t care about prositution. If a girl goes missing they don’t know because they don’t count how many girls are working here.”
The United States last year downgraded Switzerland from tier one to tier 2, the same level as Algeria, for elimination of trafficking due to its lax laws.
Gangster island
It was in 2005 that Jacques also spent time in a cell in connection to a kidnap case.
His most recent known convictions came in 2010, when he received a two-year sentence for social security fraud in Bastia, Corsica.
He was specifically found guilty of fraud involving personalised housing assistance.
The French Mediterranean island is notorious for gangster-related clan violence, as rival gangs compete for dominance.
Ghisonaccia, where Moretti was born in 1977, is where a 29-year-old was shot dead when he left a town centre bar in October 2024.
The high-profile case was one of many linked to local feuds, and highlighted the crime-ridden profile of the area.
Jacques was raised in the area, and moved into the hospitality sector when he left school.
He moved to Bonifacio, the glamorous Corsican port known for attracting the superyachts of the rich and famous, and spent time running a bar there.
His wife, Jessica Moretti, née Maric, is also originally from Corsica.
Born in 1985, she moved with her family to the French Riviera at the age of six.
Jessica is the daughter of Jean-Paul Maric, a senior fire chief in Cannes, and her uncle is Jean-Pierre Maric, president of the nearby Auribeau-sur-Siagne forest fire-fighting committee.
A family friend of Jessica said: “Her father and other relatives are highly respected fire-fighters in the south of France. Protecting people from fire is part of the family tradition.”
According to her Facebook profile she later studied at the University of Glamorgan in south Wales.
Building the bar
Jessica and Jacques moved to Switzerland in 2015, and became managers of Le Constellation in Crans-Montana.
It appears they did not buy the business, which they renovated themselves, until 2022.
The venue had been in the resort since the early 2000s, but only as a basic café-bar.
Another investigating source said: “With the change of management, the bar was gradually used as a nightclub, despite not having a specific permit to operate as one.
“This fact is now key to the manslaughter inquiry against the Morettis.”
They carried out renovation work without a conversion permit, so it should have remained a café-bar only.
The bar was gradually used as a nightclub, despite not having a specific permit
Inquiry source
A former female member of staff has claimed that she left the Le Constellation because she was asked to wear a skimpy top to lure in more customers.
Other former employees alleged that the fire extinguisher was kept in an office that was “often” locked.
As the Constellation’s profits increased, the Morettis expanded their business operation, opening Le Senso – a bar-restaurant with a focus on Corsican cuisine – in 2020.
There was also a Corsican theme to Le Vieux Chalet restaurant, which opened in Lens, where they bought a house, in 2023.
The couple insist they operated according to the law, with all the appropriate cantonal permits, but lawyers for the victims of the fire are not so certain.
Saving the cash
It is also possible that Jessica could be charged with ‘failing to assist people in danger’ if reports of what is on the bar’s CCTV footage proves to be correct.
The Public news site in France claimed: “CCTV footage reportedly shows the bar owner leaving the premises with the cash register shortly after the start of the incident.
“The footage reportedly shows her carrying the bar’s cash register and the day’s takings in cash.”
If all the allegations are proved against the Morettis, then they face multi-year prison sentences and large fines.
Everyone here plays golf together
Sébastien Fanti
Compensation worth multi-millions to the victims is also a strong possibility, as is a ban on the Morettis being allowed to run businesses in the area for at least ten years.
Beyond the Swiss, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office has opened a criminal enquiry, because of the large number of French nationals involved. It will provide all of its information to the Swiss enquiry.
One of the nine French citizens who lost their lives were aged just 14.
Preventable disaster
In Switzerland, safety in public places significant responsibility on managers, but rigorous monitoring is also required by the local council.
A big question is how the Constellation got away with lighting sparklers in a basement bar for years.
It ostensibly had two exits, but – as is often the case with such businesses – one was allegedly kept locked so it did not need to be monitored constantly.
Investigators described Le Constellation as a “deathtrap”
Sébastien Fanti, 54, a lawyer for surviving victims and a specialist in money laundering, thinks the Morettis should be held in custody.
He told the LeParisien newspaper: “I will be requesting the arrest of these individuals, as well as the local officials.
“This will obviously not happen since everyone here plays golf together. But we will pursue it.”
The investigation could soon extend to officials, technicians, and supervisors working for Crans-Montana town hall.
Locals have questioned why some businesses in Crans-Montana received yearly checks by the authorities and others did not.
Cédric Berger, President of the Association of Apartment and Chalet Owners in Crans-Montana, alleged: “Everything indicates that this was a preventable disaster.
“How could the authorities have ignored this when, in Valais, the law on protection against fire and natural hazards mandates strict periodic inspections of establishments open to the public?
Failed in their duties by turning a blind eye
Cédric Berger
“The municipal and cantonal authorities appear heavily implicated by the carte blanche given to the operators.
“The investigation will have to determine whether possible fraud can be established and, above all, whether officials or elected representatives failed in their duties by turning a blind eye.”
Images broadcast this week by Swiss television company RTS show sparklers were regularly used in the bar, and the dangers were well known.
“Watch out for the foam”, a bar worker is heard shouting in a video, six years ago, on New Year’s Eve, December 31, 2019.
In a statement on Tuesday, Jacques and Jessica Moretti said they would not “shirk their responsibilities,” adding: “We are devastated and overwhelmed with grief.”
The couple also stated that they have “full confidence in the investigators to shed light on the matter and answer all questions.”
