Authorities say Raymond Roth may not have even been at a Long Island N.Y., beach after conducting a five-day search by air and sea.

A Long Island man suspected of faking his own death has checked into a psychiatric hospital, according to Newsday.

Raymond Roth, 47, checked in to an unidentified hospital on Friday but is now being held involuntarily after doctors determined he was a danger to himself, according to the newspaper. 

"He is in a psychiatric hospital because he has psychiatric problems. He is depressed and he is not rational," Roth's attorney, Brian Davis, was quoted as saying.

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Roth's sudden disappearance last month resulted in a five-day search involving the U.S. Coast Guard and cost tens of thousands of dollars. Roth's 22-year-old son, Jonathan, told authorities his father had disappeared during a swim near Jones Beach on July 28.

The search was halted last week after Roth's brother told police Roth had called him from Florida. An officer in South Carolina who stopped Roth for speeding alerted police in New York after learning he was listed as a missing person.

Roth told the officer he had a fight with his wife and was on his way back home. In reality he had been staying in Orlando at a resort.

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His wife, Evana, thought her husband had drowned. She found out Roth was still alive only after reading a series of emails between him and his son during his disappearance, according to media reports. 

She described Roth's behavior leading up to his disappearance as bizarre. Besides putting his home up for sale, Roth had reportedly tripled his life insurance policy and withdrew money from her accounts. She said she was not sure who was named the beneficiary on the policy.

Wife: NY man was act bizarrely before faking his own death

Davis said his client has been struggling with mental illness since the age of 7 when he was hit by a car. His condition only grew worse after losing his job as a computer manager, according to Davis.

Roth had been fired from his job after threatening to shoot two of his supervisors who had demoted him. In response to the threat, police confiscated Roth's .357 Magnum revolver and gun permit.

"That isn't what someone acting rationally would do," Davis told Newsday.

He said Roth began taking medication, including Prozac, that only furthered his irrationality. 

"Instead of calming him and relieving his anxiety, it made him more intense and irate," Davis said.

Jonathan Roth was arrested earlier this week for conspiracy to commit insurance fraud and lying to police. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on $10,000 bond.

The criminal complaint alleges Jonathan conspired with his father to receive more than $50,000 in life insurance money.

Davis said he expects his client to be arrested soon and face charges similar to his son's.

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The wife of a man who was thought to have drowned in the waters off Long Island, N.Y., but turned up several states away days later, said at a news conference Friday that she found emails in which he discussed faking his death, NBCNewYork.com reported.

Evana Roth said her husband, Raymond Roth, and his 22-year-old son, Jonathan, corresponded through email and by phone before and during his disappearance July 28, supposedly while swimming at Jones Beach.

She previously told the New York Post she didn't find out Roth was alive until seeing an email that Jonathan had received from his father.

NBCNewYork.com reported that Roth had put his Massapequa home up for sale a week before he disappeared.

One email provided to the media tells Jonathan to call and update him on developments in New York, but to be cautious.

“There needs to be a way for me to find out how things are going. Call me Sunday night at 8 p.m. at the resort. You cannot call from your phone,’’ he said. “Go to a pay phone or borrow your friends phone.”

According to NBCNewYork.com, one email suggested Roth didn't think too highly of his wife.

“DO NOT allow that ... to give the house away,’’ Roth wrote to his son. 

“While I was crying and thinking he had drowned, he was vacationing in a resort and having a drink in the pool," she told the paper.

Evana Roth described her husband's behavior leading up to his disappearance as bizarre.

The Post reported that Roth lost his job as a computer manager after threatening to shoot two supervisors who had demoted him. The incident led to police confiscating a handgun he owned.

She told the Post that he had tripled his life insurance policy in January, then withdrew money from all her accounts and revised his will.  She said she was not sure who was named as the beneficiary on the policy.

NY swimmer who vanished turns up alive

She said the day that he disappeared, he told her was going to his mother's house. After a few hours, the younger Roth called and said his dad went into the water at Jones Beach and never came out. Police confirmed that Jonathan Roth placed a 911 call and reported his father as missing.

Officials launched an air and sea search last Saturday that lasted for five days.

Then on Wednesday, Roth's brother notified police he had received a call from Roth saying he was in Florida.

Once Evana Roth discovered the emails, she called her brother-in-law, who then called police in Orlando. Officers there checked out an address Roth may have been staying at, but came up empty.

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Then Roth was stopped for speeding in South Carolina on Thursday morning.

During a routine check of his license, the officer learned he was listed as a missing person and notified police in New York.

He told the officer he was on his way back to New York and would talk with police once he returns.

Roth has still not returned home. His whereabouts are unknown.

But his wife said she had been hearing from him by texts and phone calls since word came that he was alive. NBCNewYork.com's account of texts she shared:

A text she received Thursday night read: "It didn't work out the way I thought it would. I did it for you."

Friday morning he texted her: "What is going on?  Heard you are having a press conference.  Be Nice. Almost 15 years together." 

After the press conference, Roth said she received another text from her husband: "Now you're not ever speaking to me again."  

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Federal agents and NYPD detectives have arrested dozens of suspects on federal charges of participating in a $279 million insurance fraud scheme.

The 36 people charged include 10 doctors and three attorneys who are alleged to have participated in the scheme, officials said. They face maximum jail sentences ranging from 30 to 70 years, if convicted.

Read NBCNewYork.com's original story on insurance fraud scheme

Suspects were charged with racketeering and money laundering, among other counts. Officials said the Brooklyn-based operation was the largest single no-fault auto insurance fraud scheme ever charged.

The scheme took advantage of a state law requiring every vehicle in New York state to have no-fault auto insurance, enabling the driver and passengers to get benefits of up to $50,000 per person for injuries suffered in an accident, regardless of fault.

Under the law, payments for medical treatments had to be made quickly, meaning those in the car would not have to file time-consuming personal injury lawsuits.

Some medical clinics have been created in New York entirely for the purpose of defrauding insurance companies under the no-fault law.

In some cases, clinic operators would also arrange for other allegedly fraudulent businesses to give unnecessary treatments, and would provide referrals from doctors. Those treatments were also billed to the auto insurance companies and included acupuncture, physical therapy, X-rays, and orthopedics.

In return, the clinic heads received cash kickbacks for the referrals.

The scheme also used recruiters to bring in patients, and paid them thousands per referral.

The operation had ties to Russian organized crime, officials said.

"The criminal enterprise, while it lasted, was obscenely profitable," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said in a statement.

Those charged will be arraigned in federal court in Manhattan.

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