The French couple who own the bar which caught fire in Crans-Montana are suspected of negligence by the courts. Having lived in Switzerland for 10 years, the couple managed three thriving businesses. Until the terrible night of New Year’s Eve 2026.
Constellation is best spoken about by its customers. “A great bar”, “a warm welcome”, “an extraordinary atmosphere”, “cool evenings”, “a perfect place for a successful evening”. The reviews left on Google are rave. We also read remarks from several years ago which took a particular turn after the tragic fire: “Good bar but too bad it is full of minors” or even “Nice bar with a nightclub basement”, “when you go to the basement, nice atmosphere”.
It was precisely from the basement of this trendy bar in the ski resort that the fire started which left 40 dead, including 9 French people, and 119 injured on New Year’s Eve. Customer videos show a very rapid conflagration of the foam stuck to the ceiling to insulate against noise, probably caused by incandescent candles attached to the champagne bottles.
Three businesses in 10 years
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At the origin of Constellation’s success is a French couple: Jacques and Jessica Maric, wife of Moretti. He is originally from Ghisonaccia in Haute-Corse and is 49 years old, she from the Alpes-Maritimes and is 40 years old, according to Corsica-Marin et Nice-Morning. The business register of the canton of Valais has known the establishment since 2015. The wife is a partner and manager, the husband is a partner. The couple owns two other establishments: the Senso lounge bar in Crans-Montana since 2020 and the restaurant Le Vieux Châlet in the neighboring town of Lens since 2023.
Charles-André Bagnoud is a notary in Crans-Montana and he knows the couple. “He’s a friend, he moved here, it’s his first bar, after which he had two others. He’s a worker, he’s a friend of the station.” He praises the qualities of Jacques Moretti: “He did his work very seriously, and we saw him every day, he was always there, always committed.”
Before settling in Switzerland, Jacques Moretti managed a cleaning company CMC Services in Ghionaccia from 2003 to 2009 and the bar-lounge D’Gino café on the port of Bonifacio in Corsica from 2004 to 2014, according to the Societe.com directory. Mayor Jean-Charles Orucci remembers having always had “good relations” with this merchant.
A criminal record more than 20 years ago
The name of the manager of the Constellation appears in another file: the justice archives. He was imprisoned in Savoie in 2005, says The Parisian. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison for fraud. He is known for cases of pimping dating back around twenty years and a case of kidnapping and sequestration around thirty years ago. But he no longer belongs “to the spectrum of organized crime”, indicates a police source at Parisian.
Respect for the rules at the heart of the investigation
When the Moretti couple arrived in Crans-Montana in 2015, the Constellation was an old-fashioned bar, far from the trendy bar it had become with a capacity of up to 300 people. In a June 2016 article in the regional daily The NouvellisteJacques Moretti declared: “I did almost everything myself, look at these walls, there are 14 tonnes of dry stone”. A Facebook page, called Old Constellation, and now deleted, which was spotted The Court of Genevadetails the work with numerous photos. We see piles of dark gray convoluted foam stored, then placed on the ceiling, side walls and the cladding of certain doors. Another element that the photos show: the stairs which lead to the basement would have been reduced in width.
The owner said Saturday The Court of Geneva that his bar had been inspected “three times in 10 years” and that “everything was done within standards”. Swiss justice will be interested in this renovation work, the materials used, and compliance with standards regarding access and emergency exits to the basement. Swiss regulations require doors to open in the direction of escape, clear traffic lanes, with minimum widths. The public prosecutor of the canton of Valais has already requested and obtained the Constellation file from the municipality of Crans-Montana. The opportunity to check whether everything was done according to the rules or whether economic imperatives may have led to non-compliance with safety rules.
An open criminal investigation
Jacques and Jessica Moretti were heard as witnesses on Friday. The next day, a criminal investigation was opened against the couple for “negligent homicide, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson”. The Moretti spouses remain presumed innocent during the investigation. Contacted by The Dispatchthey did not respond to our request.
