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The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Thursday that a High Point company and two local businessmen will be required to pay millions in restitution and penalties for an alleged Ponzi scheme.

A federal court order was entered against Nicholas T. Cox of Denton on Thursday and against Integra Capital Management LLC and Rodney W. Whitney of Thomasville on Oct. 13.

Cox has been ordered to pay $2.18 million in restitution and $2.18 million in a civil penalty. Whitney and Integra have been ordered to pay $3.38 in restitution and a civil penalty of $3.6 million.

The orders also permanently prohibit Whitney, Cox and Integra from engaging in any commodity-related activity, including trading.

Cox and Whitney consented to the court orders.

The commission determined the company and businessmen defrauded investors in a commodity pool Ponzi scheme between September 2006 and August 2009.

Instead of investing money from clients, the men used the money to pay other investors and for personal expenses, including dining, entertainment, travel and real-estate purchases, prosecutors said.

Judge Thomas Schroeder of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of N.C. found that Whitney, Cox and Integra violated the anti-fraud provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act by misrepresenting Integra's trading performance and by misappropriating pool participants' funds, among other violations.

Their assets were frozen in September 2010.

The men also face criminal charges.