Chris Smith: Botox banditry is a thing, a Santa Rosa plastic surgeon learned

The guy seemed so darned nice.

He swept into the Santa Rosa offices of plastic surgeon Barry Silberg days ago full of stories and praise and worldliness.

“He just charmed everybody,” said Dr. Silberg.

The new client - 50-ish, about 6 feet tall, curly dark hair - had made an appointment for Botox treatment of his forehead and frown lines.

During his hour or so with Silberg and his staff, the fellow shared that he’s an attorney and his practice involves a fair amount of international travel.

Typically, before a Botox facial treatment, a photo of the client is snapped so that he or she can inspect the before and after difference. This client declined being photographed, saying something about how he’s part of a legal team and can’t be having pictures taken.

As his quite delightful visit was concluding and it was time to pay, he tapped his pockets, then said he needed to run to his car for his wallet. And, whoosh, he was gone.

“He got about $600 of Botox and just left,” Silberg said.

The doctor and his staff found that the name and contact information the patient had provided them were bogus.

Silberg had never heard of that scam happening before. But staff members mentioned it to others in the field, and did some Internet research.

It turns out Botox banditry is a thing.

It happened in Napa not long ago, and Silberg and his staff are thinking they might have been taken in by the same guy who received $6,000 worth of treatments from a San Francisco plastic surgeon in early 2015, then thanked the staff for their care and trust by skipping out on them.

That crook was described as “a man of about 40 years, standing 6 feel tall with short dark hair and a medium build.”

In a few similar cases in Southern California and Phoenix, men and women scooted after receiving injections of the wrinkle-smoothing Botox and other beauty services.

This guy who brought the scam here, let’s hope he looks youthful, taut, years younger than his chronological age - in his jail booking photo.

HHHHHH

BACK AT THE PIANO: A year ago, an audience at Cotati’s Congregation Ner Shalom savored each note of a rare, small-venue performance by the internationally prized Raphael Trio.

The chamber music group has a special connection to Ner Shalom: the synagogue’s fine, old Steinway baby grand piano was bravely removed from Nazi Germany by the parents of the trio’s cellist, Susan Salm.

The 1926 piano remained throughout World War II in a warehouse in Rotterdam that easily could have fallen to waves of bombings, but didn’t.

Holocaust survivors Erna and Arthur Salm had it shipped to Chicago. Following their deaths, son David Salm, who lives in Santa Rosa and co-founded SSU’s Holocaust & Genocide Memorial Grove, brought it to Cotati.

Well, the Raphael Trio is coming back.

Susan Salm and her partners, violinist Naoko Tanaka and pianist Daniel Epstein, will perform two Mendelssohn trios at Ner Shalom at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. For tickets or more details, go to nershalom.org.

The performance is a benefit for a congregation eager to once again hear Epstein play, and Tanaka and Susan Salm accompany, The Piano.

You can reach Staff Writer Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 or chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.