Investigators found photos of the beauty queen and evidence of the lavish gifts he gave her, including apartments and cars, on Norero’s phone after his death.

“If my wife comes across anything about her, I’m screwed,” Norero had said of Párraga to an alleged criminal associate, Helive Ángulo.

He added: “My friend, her name cannot come out anywhere. Otherwise, my world will come crashing down.”

Mr Ángulo is one of some 50 people being prosecuted as a result of Operation Metastasis, the investigation into a criminal network accused of corrupting Ecuadorian state officials.

Among those charged are judges accused of granting gang leaders favourable rulings, police officials suspected of tampering with evidence and delivering weapons to prisons, and the former director of Ecuador’s prison authority, who is accused of giving special treatment to a powerful drug trafficker.