Temptress strikes again, seducing L.A. doctor, stealing expensive watch

A Colombian temptress, adept at drugging lust-filled men and stealing their expensive watches, has struck again, police said.

This time the victim was a Los Angeles doctor who claims he met Liliana Vanegas at the chichi Mynt nightclub in Miami Beach on March 12 and shared a couple of drinks, then agreed to go back to his apartment.

The next thing he knew, Jacob Sedgh told police, he had woken up and discovered that his $10,000 Panerai watch was gone.

“It should be noted that the victim is a doctor and upon waking up he knew that he was drugged because he did not drink excessively that evening,” Miami Beach police officer Katrina Lugo-Martinez wrote in her report.

So, as police have done at least three other times — though they believe Vanegas, 24, has struck more than that — they trudged down to a condo Vanegas occupies at 111 NE Second Ave., and they arrested her.

“He identified her. We went and got her,” said Miami police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez. “Anyone who feels victimized, please contact Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers.”

Sedgh, reached by cellphone, declined to comment.

Rodriguez said detectives have heard from law enforcement in other states, including Georgia and New York, who think Vanegas may have struck in their communities.

On Tuesday, she was charged with strong-arm robbery and grand theft and booked into the Turner Guilford Knight correction facility, a Northwest Miami-Dade lockup she has become all-too familiar with.

Vanegas’ ability to seduce and steal, police said, has pushed officers on a dizzying pace the past month. Tuesday’s arrest was at least her fourth since late March when a late-night smile was all it took for Canadian businessman Alvin Malhi to change his early morning plans.

Malhi, 40, and who candidly identified himself as married but not “especially attractive,” was on his way back to his hotel after a bachelor party at the Nikki Beach nightclub on March 29 when he said Vanegas flashed him an alluring grin.

He changed course. They talked, then went to his hotel. No sex, he claimed. But after doing some shots he said he woke up as Vanegas was making her way — hastily — out of the hotel room with a $28,000 Rolex he said spent years saving for.

Malhi followed, chasing Vanegas from taxi to taxi until she finally just called an acquaintance, who picked her up in a Mercedes. The couple were stopped on their way out of Miami Beach and arrested.

After that arrest, other victims came forward and Vanegas was subsequently arrested again and charged with identical or similar crimes.

She had a Feb. 19 encounter with a man named Robert Moccia who said he met her at Mango’s Tropical Cafe in Miami Beach at 4 a.m. and he took her back to his condo. When he woke up he realized a $1,000 Versace chain and a $25,000 Rolex were gone — along with Vanegas.

Another couple came forward, telling police they met Vanegas at a nightclub called Rockwell Miami on Feb. 15 and took her home. When they woke up, more than $13,000 worth of valuables — and Vanegas — were gone.

This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Temptress strikes again, seducing L.A. doctor, stealing expensive watch."