Bimeh Markazi, or the Central Insurance of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CII), is housed in a baroque-style tower alongside Tehran’s upscale Jordan Street. The state-run company, which also acts as a regulator, was established in 1971 and is overseen by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance with the mission to “expand and guide insurance operations in Iran.”

The CII came under fire last week when the pay stub of one of its employees appeared on the popular messaging app Telegram. The name of the employee was crossed out but likely belonged to one of the five members of the CII’s executive team. Subsequently, more stubs were leaked, displaying what appeared to be monthly salaries in the tens of thousands of dollars, interest-free loans and significant overtime payments. The CII responded by releasing two pay stubs belonging to one of the executives, showing a base monthly salary of 85 million rial ($2,800). It argued that the large sum leaked was in fact not a salary, but 84 months of back payment owed to the employee in question. This did not help quell the anger directed at the CII and the government.

One Principlist website claimed to have in its possession a scathing letter written by CII employees addressed to President Hassan Rouhani. The unnamed staff blasted their CEO, Mohammad Ebrahim Amin, a longtime insurance executive, criticizing him for showing favoritism during his tenure and increasing executive pay “astronomically.” The outcry subsequently lead to the resignation of Amin, who began his resignation letter with the words “I am ashamed.” He did not admit to any wrongdoing, but he apologized to the minister of Economic Affairs and Finance for making his ministry look incompetent. Minister Ali Tayyebnia accepted Amin’s resignation and quickly reinstated the former CEO, Abdulnasser Hemmati. But as pointed out by numerous commentators, the removal hardly addresses the roots of a more widespread phenomenon.

Executive pay is one of the less discussed components of the Iranian financial services industry, which is increasingly wanting to compete and operate internationally. This sector until very recently endorsed frugality for top officials as a formal solution to the curtailing of corruption. In this vein, for decades, and especially in the years after the end of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War, informal payments have been used as one way of luring competent managers from the private sector to government posts. What the CII leaks revealed has in fact been standard practice — an acceptable truism the public already knows but only reacts to when faced with headlines.