Swiss bar owner recruited sex workers for 'Hot Rabbit' massage parlour in Geneva

The owner of the Swiss ski resort bar where a blaze killed 40 people on New Year's recruited prostitutes for a massage parlour and was convicted of pimping by a criminal court in Annecy, southern France, in 2008. Jacques Moretti was at the centre of a sex workers case and was involved in getting French women to work at an erotic massage parlour in Geneva called the "Hot Rabbit Rendezvous". According to a report in Le Parisien, the 49-year-old is a known pimp and was lodged at a prison for some time in the southeast of France for several other cases. "He is known for pimping cases dating back some twenty years, as well as for a kidnapping and confinement case," the outlet wrote. RTL, a national radio network, also reported on Moretti's past, saying, "The Corsican-born man…was imprisoned in Savoie in 2005, for involvement in cases of pimping, fraud, kidnapping, and false imprisonment."

Moretti had denied all these charges at the time, saying that he only managed the massage parlour for three months under the name of a Swiss pimp. The "Hot Rabbit" massage parlour case came to light when French officials tipped off the Swiss police in 2008. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison for his recruitment activities in France, but served only four following a suspension of the rest of the term. Moretti was flagged as running the recruitment operation and was placed under surveillance along with two other men aged 38. All three of them were arrested.

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Swiss bar owner was banned from managing companies in France

L'Est Republican talked to his lawyer, Annick Hingrez, who said Moretti was a "courteous and affable" man. Annick says the case was weak and cited "voluntary participation of the young women recruited." She added that she thought Moretti was still living in Bonifacio, Corsica and only learned that he was in Switzerland after learning of the explosion at Le Constellation bar. His sentence also banned him from managing a company in France.

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However, it did not extend to other countries, and so he had this ski resort in Switzerland, and two other establishments: Le Senso, a bar-restaurant in the Crans-Montana resort, and a "Corsican inn", Le Vieux-Chalet in Lens. Both Moretti and his wife, Jessica Moretti, are facing charges for "manslaughter by negligence" for the fire. The ceiling of the club caught fire from the sparklers stuffed into champagne bottles, which were being swung around by waitresses sitting on the shoulders of male revellers.

Watch: Exact moment Swiss bar caught fire