COLOMBO, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a special presidential commission on Thursday to probe fraud and corruption, the President's Media Division said.

Sirisena appointed a five-member committee led by Retired Supreme Court Judge A.H.M. Upali Abeyrathne.

The special commission will probe into fraud and malpractices committed after the government came into power in 2015.

Sirisena said recently that he was certain there would be frauds of serious nature that would surface once the commission began its probe.