Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Andrés Piedrahita may have canceled his summer cruise down the Dalmatian coast aboard his $22 million yacht, but other members of the family are still getting outside for some fun in the sun. A source tells us—and we've since confirmed—that Walter Noel, the founder of the Fairfield Greenwich Group, Piedrahita's father-in-law, and the man who "lost" $7 billion of his investors' money to Bernie Madoff's epic scam, is golfing once again. After taking a year-long hiatus, Noel returned to the Sebonack Golf Club in Southampton last week for the first time since August 2008. And he's been back two times since then. It's hard to blame him. Once he's indicted this fall, he probably won't have much time to practice his swing, now will he? You'll find Noel's score history—which indicates his golf game hasn't suffered much since he hit the links last summer—below. More

Andrés Piedrahita Has a Yacht to Sell You | A couple of days ago, Vanity Fair contributing editor Vicky Ward reported that Andrés Piedrahita, Walter Noel's son-in-law and a senior exec at Fairfield Greenwich, recently took possession of a $30 million yacht, and has since been spotted cruising the Mediterranean. Piedrahita's response? He's just showing off the boat to potential buyers, silly.More

Piedrahita's Summer at Sea | Remember Andrés Piedrahita, the Colombian-born employee/son-in-law of Walter Noel? The guy who traveled the globe in search of wealthy investors, who he convinced to invest in Fairfield Greenwich, the hedge fund that lost an estimated $7 billion to Bernie Madoff? Although you might think he'd be hiding in a cave these days, he's actually having a lovely summer. Because according to Vicky Ward, Piedrahita just took possession of a brand new, custom-built $30 million yacht: "He is now cruising the Adriatic with wife Corina Noel and their children. I am told he has plans to cruise around the Dalmatian coast and Corfu." [HuffPo]

The Noose Tightens | Bad news today for everyone connected to Bernie Madoff. An appeals court judge denied a motion by Peter Madoff, Bernie's brother, to overturn a freeze on his assets. And in a separate ruling, a Connecticut judge temporarily froze the assets of Bernie's two sons, as well as execs at several Madoff feeder funds, including Walter Noel and several of his flunkies at Fairfield Greenwich Group. Yes, for Andrés Piedrahita, not only is the party long over, but the club was switched on the lights and blocked off the exits, too. [Bloomberg, Reuters]

Andrés Piedrahita Speaks Out | A member of the "golden" Noel family is finally speaking out. Andrés Piedrahita, the party-loving Colombian-born son-in-law/employee of Walter Noel, tells the Wall Street Journal that since Fairfield Greenwich lost more than $7 billion to Bernie Madoff, "life has changed a lot." But that's not because he did anything wrong! He was just as shocked by the news as everyone else, which is why he remains blissfully free of any regret: "I and look at myself in the morning, and I'm very proud of what I've done, and so are my partners." Isn't that comforting to hear? [WSJ]