The son of the Long Island man accused of faking his drowning in order to cash in on his insurance policy said he helped his dad pull the ruse because he feared his father would harm him.
Jonathan Roth, 22, said that he was finally ready to admit his role in the July scam after being taken into the “safety’’ of police custody, he told Dr. Phil in a show set to air today.
“I was admitting that I knew about the scheme and that I was forced into going along with it,” he said on the show.
“The reason I told the truth was because I was in police custody. I was in the safety and security of the police so I had no reason to fear my father who hasn’t supported me at all through this.”
Roth initially told cops on July 28th that he saw his father, Raymond Roth, 48, vanish into the waters off of Jones Beach after going for a swim.
But the tale unraveled when Raymond Roth suddenly turned up in Florida — he was later arrested in New York for trying to cash in on a $400,000 insurance policy.
The unemployed man claimed to be unhappy with his marriage and wanted out of his suburban Long Island existence but denied any insurance plot.
Cops also arrested Jonathan Roth — who is facing several felony charges — and alleged that he conspired with his father to share the insurance policy return.
kcrowley@nypost.com