Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) shareholders haven't been immune to the credit crisis, but executives are another story. Vikram Pandit, Chief Executive Officer of the firm, is facing widespread criticism over pay after his first annual meeting with shareholders since he took office after the financial crisis began.

Over a thousand people packed into Citigroup's annual meeting at the Hilton Hotel in New York with many of them cheering as shareholders got into line to slam executive compensation packages in the face of billion dollar sub-prime write-offs. Many of the comments made were off-base, but others posed serious questions that need answers.

Former Chief Executive Charles Prince walked away with an exit package worth $42 million in stock awards, pension payments and bonuses. Meanwhile, Gary Crittenden made $19.3 million even as shares halved during the past year as the company reported a series of major losses and write-offs.

Some shareholders attending the meeting may have stepped over the line by saying that (referring to executives) "people that could do that job are a dime a dozen ... there are probably plenty in here that could do it." Others accused the executives of doing "nothing to earn their money", charging that shareholders were being robbed.

Citigroup responded by stating that it believes the credit crisis is over half done through and that it is continuing to shed non-core assets at an aggressive rate in order to cut costs and increase efficiency. However, the bank that has already lost more than $30 billion in the credit crunch so far may have to do more than just talk.

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