CHATHAM, N.J. – P.L. Capital LLC, the investment banking firm which specializes in the financial services industry, announced that its candidates won a recent board election at Synergy Bank, a former credit union, and replaced John Fiore, the CEO of both the bank and the holding company on the board. Fiore, the CEO who led Synergy FCU to become a bank in 1998, and two other directors, Phil Scott and Nancy Davis, both former CU board members, were contested by two candidates from P.L. Capital. Fiore and Scott lost and Davis continued on the board. The battle had been characterized by charges from P.L. Capital that that former CU board members were overpaid to the tune, in Fiore's case, of over one million dollars and in the hundreds of thousands of dollars in the cases of the board members. P.L. Capital principal Rich Lashley said, "We are very pleased that Synergy's outside shareholders overwhelmingly supported our candidates. The margin of victory is a mandate from shareholders as it was achieved despite significant insider ownership by Synergy's benefit plans."