Neither the commissioner nor any of the commissioner's employees shall be directly or indirectly employed by any insurance company, association, or society, in any capacity, or be directly or indirectly interested in any such insurance corporation, except as a policyholder; nor shall they or any of them charge any such insurance corporation or official any fee or take any valuable thing in payment for any service or otherwise, unless payment for such service is specifically authorized by law. The penalty for violation of this section shall be removal from office.