A married couple face questions about how they amassed their fortune before 40 people died in their bar in Switzerland, as questions grow over how they can afford to pay the lump sum for their real estate empire at an expensive ski resort.
The couple face questions about their personal assets (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The married couple who own the Swiss ski bar where 40 people died in a massive fire will be questioned about the origins of their personal wealth.
Jacques and Jessica Moretti owned and managed Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, which was filled with young partygoers when the fire broke out around 1:30 a.m. on January 1.
Forty people were killed, mostly teenagers, and 116 were injured.
On Friday, Jacques Moretti, 49, was held in pre-trial detention and his wife, Jessica, 40, sobbed uncontrollably as they were allowed to leave the public prosecutor’s office in Sion, where they had been summoned hours earlier.
The couple is being investigated for murder by negligence, causing bodily harm by negligence and arson by negligence. Mrs Moretti remains independent.
Tensions ran high around the Moretti couple from Corsica, as lawyers told The Mirror how the victims’ families’ primary concern remains the risk of evidence disappearing.
Swiss bar fire bosses find ‘stepdaughter’
read more. Swiss bar fire bosses find ‘stepdaughter’ dying in ‘pile of bodies’ in final moments read more. Swiss bar owners involved in the fire disaster have been given home police guards amid growing anger.
This couple, originally from Corsica, came to face questions after the death of 40 people in their bar. (Image: AFP via Getty Images )
Romain Jordan, a lawyer for some of the Swiss families, said he could not comment on Moretti’s arrest but told The Mirror, “The families’ primary concern remains the risk of evidence disappearing or having a negative impact on the testimony to be collected, both from the defendants and from authorities who have already admitted wrongdoing.”
“It is the responsibility of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to conduct the necessary investigations without undue delay to address these concerns.”
He also stressed that “it is necessary to establish the personal situation of the defendants, especially from an economic point of view.”
There are also concerns about the couple’s online presence, which appears to have been wiped from the internet, with Facebook and Instagram accounts disappearing as emergency services tried to extinguish the flames and rescue the victims.
Rescue workers and firefighters work at the site of a bar explosion in Crans-Montana on January 1, 2026. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
And Moratis’s ‘intimidating’ associates were also accused of roughing up journalists in front of one of his establishments, Le Vieux Chateau, pushing him and kicking his car.
In ugly scenes, several men dressed in black shouted at Italian and Swiss journalists to ‘get out of here’.
Swiss newspaper Blick said one of its journalists was “verbally attacked by Jacques Moretti’s entourage”.
“We are finally interrogating him in a proper environment.” He has a lot of questions to answer, especially about his financial situation,” a source close to the case said after Friday’s hearing.
“There is a kind of culture of silence around them,” he claimed.
The couple have in a short time built a small real estate empire in and around the glitzy ski resorts of Cross-Montana, the Mirror has learnt.
In addition to Le Constellation Bar, the site of the tragedy, he also owns two houses and two other businesses, including garages and land.
He appears to have no mortgage, which raises the question of how he amassed so much wealth. Questions centre around the origin of wealth.
Sebastian Fanti, the lawyer for many of the families of the injured, is particularly concerned by the speed with which the couple became wealthy.
He told the French press, “At first, he was just the bar manager, not the owner. Then suddenly, he bought real estate worth more than three million francs, without taking out a single penny.”
Moretti reportedly spent four months in prison in France in 2008. He was convicted of inciting prostitution after recruiting young women as sex workers at an erotic massage parlour in Geneva.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, eight of which were suspended, for crimes dating back to 2005.
His sentence included a ban on managing a company in France, but crucially, not in Switzerland, where he was free to set up business.
After taking over the lease of the property to run his bar Le Constellation in 2015, he carried out extensive renovations.
In March 2020, he bought a house in nearby Lens worth approximately £760,000. It appears to have been acquired without collateral.
That same year he opened a second business, Le Senso, in the centre of Crans-Montana—a lounge bar specialising in burgers.
In 2022, he purchased Crans-Montana property, which he leases for his business, Le Constellation.
The bar owner was on his way to speak to prosecutors who detained him as they investigate the deadly blast (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
And the following year he opened a third business, a restaurant in Lens – Le Vieux Chateau.
In October 2024, the couple bought a second home in Lens, worth around £380,000.
How this French couple built such an empire will form part of the investigation.
The couple said in a statement that they were “shocked and overwhelmed with grief” and promised “full cooperation” with investigators.
They also have to answer questions about why there were so many minors in the bar and whether fire safety rules were in place.
The youngest victims were two 14-year-olds – a French boy and a Swiss girl.
Apart from this, 116 people were injured, most of whom suffered serious injuries.
Seven of those killed in a Swiss bar fire were members of the same football club.
These friends came from Lutry, a delightful town of about 10,500 people on the shores of Lake Geneva. Five others are reportedly in critical condition.
FC Lutri president Stéphane Biese told AFP at the club, “We have destroyed a generation here.” “The recovery process for those who remain will be extremely challenging.”
Sparks from champagne bottles ignited the soundproofing foam on the bar’s ceiling, causing the fire.
A video filmed by a member of the public, shown on Monday by Swiss broadcaster RTS, showed that the danger had been known about years ago. “Be careful of the foam,” a bar employee said during a 2019 New Year’s Eve celebration, when champagne bottles with sparklers were brought out.
“This video is shocking,” said Romain Jordan, a lawyer representing several families.
He said this showed that “there was an awareness of this risk – and possibly an acceptance of this risk”.
Officials also faced questions after the Crans-Montana Council admitted it had not conducted safety inspections on bars since 2019, which they should have annually.
Council president Nicolas Ferrad said the checks should be annual. “We are extremely sorry,” he said.
Mourners and members of the emergency services deliver a speech to Swiss President Guy Parmelin during a memorial ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the Crans-Montana bar fire. (Image: Getty Images )
Switzerland observed a national day of mourning on Friday as the pair responded to authorities.
Mrs. Moretti cried in front of cameras waiting outside the public prosecutor’s office in Sion, where authorities were interrogating her and the other individual, saying, “My continued condolences are with the victims and those who are fighting today.” This tragedy is beyond comprehension.
“We could never have imagined this. It happened in our facility and I want to apologise.”
