Crans-Montana Fire Probe Widens to Include Mayor and Officials

The investigation into the Crans-Montana tragedy has pierced the highest echelons of local government, with prosecutors confirming that Mayor Nicolas Féraud is now a criminal suspect. In a dramatic expansion of the probe, the Valais public prosecutor's office has charged Féraud and four other current and former officials with involuntary manslaughter, bodily harm, and arson by negligence. This move signals a decisive shift: authorities are no longer viewing this merely as an isolated accident, but potentially as a failure of municipal governance.

The list of suspects has now swelled to nine. Joining the Mayor are a former municipal councilor responsible for security (2021-2024), a former fire safety officer, and members of the current public safety team. These officials, tasked with the protection of the public, now face the same grave charges as the bar owners, Jacques and Jessica Moretti. The message from the prosecutor is clear and uncompromising: immunity does not exist when public safety is compromised. Questioning is scheduled to take place between April 7 and 15, a week that promises to be a reckoning for the resort town's leadership.

The catastrophe that claimed 41 lives—mostly teenagers—was not just a tragedy of circumstance, but a staggering failure of oversight. The municipality has admitted to a critical lapse: no annual safety check had been conducted at Le Constellation bar since 2019. For nearly seven years, the establishment operated without the mandatory scrutiny that could have identified the lethal risks lurking within its walls.

Public prosecutors believe the inferno began when champagne bottles with sparklers were raised too close to the basement ceiling, igniting highly flammable sound insulation foam. The result was a death trap. Beyond the heartbreaking death toll, a further 115 people were injured, with 58 survivors still languishing in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics as of late February. The sheer scale of the casualty list underscores the gross negligence involved. "We are clearly satisfied with the expansion of proceedings," stated Sebastien Fanti, a lawyer for the victims' families, hinting that new evidence suggests the rot goes deeper than previously thought.

While local prosecutors hunt for those responsible for the fire, federal agents are uncovering a labyrinth of financial deceit. The Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) has launched a parallel investigation into bar owners Jacques and Jessica Moretti, suspecting them of money laundering and operating a "Ponzi-type" scheme. The scope of the alleged financial misconduct is alarming, involving hundreds of thousands of francs moving through opaque channels.

A dossier from the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) outlines a web of suspicious activity: unexplained loans, dubiously financed mortgages, and transfers between companies that resemble "transit accounts" designed to obscure the origin of funds. The probe also points to potential forgery and insurance fraud, referencing a past fire at another Moretti establishment, Le Vieux Chalet. With major banks like Valais Cantonal Bank and UBS implicated as intermediaries, the scandal threatens to expose a dark underbelly of illicit finance hiding behind the glamour of the ski resort.

The political ground in Crans-Montana is shifting violently. With the Mayor under criminal investigation, calls for his resignation are growing louder. "The question now arises whether Mr Feraud can continue to lead this municipality," asserted lawyer Sebastien Fanti. The governance of the town is now in question at the very moment it needs stability the most.

The Wallis parliament opened its Monday session with a minute of silence, a somber reflection of a canton that President Mathias Reynard declared has "not been the same" since January 1. To aid the shattered families, the parliament is voting on a foundation endowed with a massive 10 million Swiss francs ($12.8 million). While the money offers necessary support, it cannot undo the devastation. As the April interrogations approach, the community waits with bated breath, demanding accountability for a tragedy that has permanently scarred the face of the Valais.