A letter to the Prosecutor’s Office reveals that the Moretti couple would have explored a private flight to leave Switzerland after the Constellation tragedy. Investigations underway
According to the German newspaper Bild, the spouses Jacques and Jessica Moretti would have had contact with a private airline, with the clear intention of leaving Switzerland. This was revealed in a letter, sent to the Valais prosecutor’s office and written by the civil party’s lawyer, Nina Fournier, dated 12 January, therefore after the interrogation which led to Moretti’s preventive incarceration.
The owners of the Le Constellation club in Crans-Montana, where the devastating New Year’s Eve fire claimed the lives of 40 people and injured 116, may have been planning to prepare an escape route by chartering a private jet, despite claims made through their lawyers that they had no intention of escaping justice.
Fournier asked the Attorney General, Béatrice Pilloud, to launch investigations to clarify whether and with which airlines, in Sion or Geneva, the couple may have had contact. The news leaked yesterday, a day of interrogations for Jacques Moretti. The Frenchman of Corsican origin, placed in precautionary custody after his first hearing on January 9, arrived at the Prosecutor’s Office of the Canton of Valais shortly after 8 am on Tuesday, aboard a van for the transport of prisoners which stopped at the back of the building to avoid contact with reporters. His wife Jessica arrived shortly after on foot, accompanied by her two lawyers. Her presence left people disconcerted because in this way she will be able to align herself with her husband’s answers. Today she will be heard by investigators as part of the investigation into manslaughter, negligent bodily harm and negligent arson.
According to the commercial registers of the Canton of Valais, analyzed by Le Figaro, from 7 February 2024 only Jessica remained to manage the restaurant and Jacques was no longer director, but partner. A “dear friend” of the couple would have said he was willing to pay the 200,000 francs requested as bail for Jacques to be released from prison and his possible release is being awaited hour by hour.
Yesterday on Inside the News on Canale 5, a program hosted by Gianluigi Nuzzi, an unpublished document was shown, namely the statement of financial position in the name of the couple. The balance of this account on 31 December 2025 amounted to 493 Swiss francs, just over 500 euros. This lack of liquidity could explain the low amount requested as bail for both, around 430,000 euros.
Furthermore, the document states, the credit institutions have secured huge mortgages on the assets exhibited by the couple. On the villa in Lens there are two: one worth 741,600 Swiss francs and the other 598,900 Swiss francs, which when added together make almost 1.5 million euros.
Just as many guarantees weigh on the companies in their names, more than 4 and a half million euros. Jacques, who declared before investigators that he had no mysterious safes or hidden liquidity, was questioned at length on Tuesday about the security standards of the Constellation and the fact that its employees had not received security training, as well as the sequence of events on the tragic night of December 31st.
According to investigations, the fire in which many young people were trapped in the flames was caused by the sparks of the “fountain” candles that came into contact with the sound-absorbing foam placed on the ceiling of the basement of the club. Despite the smoke, the music continued to play, no alarm would be raised and there was only one door to exit, the other was blocked. Checks on the compliance of emergency exits and fire extinguishers were stopped in 2019.
The youngest victims were 14 years old, while the oldest was 39. The average age of those who lost their lives was just over 19 years old while 21 of the 40 people who died were under 18 years old.
Yesterday, the first results of the autopsy carried out on Emanuele Galeppini came out, revealing how the sixteen-year-old from Genoa died of asphyxiation after inhaling toxic fumes in the club, not from being crushed in the crowd or from burns.
