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KPMG has appointed a new chair who previously claimed leak allegations were “completely false” and described a senator’s actions in revealing the scandal as “very inappropriate and unfair”.

Michael Ebeid was appointed to lead the embattled firm on Thursday after the former chair, Martin Sheppard, resigned while under fire from a parliamentary inquiry into the firm’s ethical failings.

After the appointment, the committee released emails revealing comments Ebeid made in March. Ebeid apologised for the claims on Thursday and said he would not have made them had he known the full extent of KPMG’s shortcomings at the time.

Barbara Pocock, Greens senator and committee member, said Ebeid’s appointment showed KPMG still faced embedded ethical problems.

“It risks entrenching the very culture and leadership that need to change,” Pocock said.

“This is not the fresh start for KPMG that it attempts to be. Mr Ebeid is a part of the culture and leadership team where things have gone seriously wrong in KPMG.”

Ebeid was one of three independent board members who had overseen the firm’s investigation into a KPMG whistleblower’s allegations of leaks and other failings in the firm’s audit division.

The committee’s chair, Senator Deborah O’Neill, made the allegations public in a speech on 24 March.

The emails released on Thursday show KPMG’s deputy chair, Carmel Mortell, alerted Ebeid and his colleagues on 25 March.

Ebeid replied: “I assume Senator O’Neil [sic] made no attempt to contact KPMG before speaking … which in itself would be very inappropriate and unfair of her.”

He accused O’Neill of misrepresenting events to give the impression KPMG retaliated against the whistleblower for speaking up.

“As we know well, many of the statements she makes are completely false,” Ebeid said.

After the emails were published on Thursday afternoon, Ebeid said he was not aware of “the full range of facts” at the time.

“I recognise the gravity of the whistleblower’s allegations and the shortcomings in the firm’s approach at the time,” Ebeid said. “From what I now know … I would not have written that email and am sorry for sending it.”

KPMG has admitted its own investigations, which failed to find evidence of the allegations, were not rigorous enough.

After O’Neill’s speech in March, the firm acknowledged at least three of its staff had leaked confidential Lendlease and Optus information to colleagues who were applying for lucrative audit contracts at Westpac, Dexus and Telstra.

Sheppard refused to share the investigation documents with the committee, claiming legal privilege given they included claims relating to possible criminal investigations.

Ebeid was the only independent director to defend KPMG’s privilege claim, at odds with his two colleagues and his predecessor, Mike Baird, the former New South Wales premier.

After a fiery day of hearings on 19 June, Sheppard relented and shared some of the documents, then resigned on 23 June.

The parliamentary committee said in a statement on Thursday it was publishing the emails in response to Ebeid’s promotion as he would have an “important role” in addressing KPMG Australia’s integrity issues and rebuilding trust.

It also rebuffed Ebeid’s suggestion, in the emails, that he knew O’Neill and could meet her to explain KPMG’s “thorough process”.

The committee said: “no member of the committee, including [O’Neill], knows Mr Ebeid nor have they met with him since the whistleblower allegations were raised by [her].”

Pocock went further, claiming Ebeid was trying to “exercise inappropriate influence on senators and committee processes.”

Ebeid said he respected O’Neill and the committee and would engage constructively with their work.

“I acknowledge the firm got things wrong but we are serious about fixing mistakes that have been made,” he said.

Earlier on Thursday, in KPMG’s statement announcing his appointment, Ebeid said he would accelerate the appointment of a new chief executive and suggested more top staff could be replaced.

KPMG’s former chief executive, head of audit and chief operating officer have all stepped down but there have been calls for more executives to go.

“The incoming CEO will have a clear mandate to refresh the executive team where required,” Ebeid said.

The federal government on Wednesday said it would consider splitting up the big four consulting and audit firms and capping partner numbers in response to the scandal. The government avoided such sweeping reforms after the PwC tax leaks in 2023.