Hanif Yusuf

Hanif Yusoof was born in Kollupitiya in 1958,^{[citation needed]} to Gujarati parents. His family emigrated to Sri Lanka just before the partition of India, and his grandfather became a citizen at the suggestion of then-prime minister John Kotelawala, who he had met while playing cards. Yusoof was educated at Royal College, Colombo.^[4]

Yusoof co-founded Expolanka Holdings.^[5] Under his leadership, Expolanka grew to be the largest company by market capitalisation in Sri Lanka.^[6]

After the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake as president in the 2024 Sri Lankan presidential elections, Yusoof was appointed as Governor of the Western Province on 28 September 2024.^[7][8]

On 29 January 2025, allegations against Yusoof surfaced, accusing Yusoof of being connected to the unauthorised release of 323 containers by Sri Lanka Customs without inspection. Governor Yusoof denied all allegations and filed a complaint with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to request an investigation into said allegations.^[9]