Jacques Moretti landed in custody after a hearing at the prosecutor’s office in Sion earlier today. The authorities detained him because they see a real risk he might run.
Swiss bar owner gets detained, who is he?
Neither Jacques nor his wife Jessica, who co-owned the bar with him, answered reporters’ questions. They did say they’re devastated by the fire and plan to cooperate with investigators.
On Tuesday, Crans-Montana’s mayor, Nicolas Feraud, apologised. Turns out, Le Constellation bar hadn’t been inspected since 2019. “We’re profoundly sorry,” Feraud told the press. “We just didn’t know those checks hadn’t taken place.”
He also admitted during a news conference that, back then, officials considered the bar’s soundproof foam safe, even though it ended up catching fire quickly. The bar didn’t have a fire alarm either, since regulations didn’t require it for a venue that size.
French President Emmanuel Macron shared a message on X, honouring the fire’s victims, including French citizens. “To the bereaved families, with whom we share the pain and the grief. To the injured, to whom we extend our fraternal thoughts and our solidarity.”
Previous fraud cases and arrest for pimping
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that Jacques has a long criminal record—over twenty years of run-ins with the law. “He’s no stranger to the French justice system,” they wrote.
According to the paper, Jacques has previous convictions for pimping, as well as for kidnapping and confinement. He even served prison time in Savoie.
Belgian broadcaster RTL added that his sentence covered cases involving pimping, fraud, kidnapping, and false imprisonment.
What led to the Swiss bar fire?
It happened on the first days of the year, in the early morning of the first day of the year when a bomb ignited in one of the bars of the Alpine ski resort of Crans-Montana, the Le Constellation.
This was taking place around 1.30 am local time (12.30am UK time) at the time guests were celebrating the beginning of 2026.
The number of people who died in the fire was at least 40 and those injured were 119.
The blaze seemed to spread like wildfire and people rushed up a staircase to an exit. Witnesses said that people were screaming and climbing on top of one another and smashing the windows to flee. Swiss President Guy Parmelin termed the fire as the worst tragedy that the country has ever had.
