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The Forbes 30 Under 30 Curse: From "Changed the World" to Charged with Plunder

In 2016, a 22-year-old Filipino named Leandro Leviste stood on stage at the Forbes Under 30 Summit Asia, delivering an "Inspiration and Drive" presentation about his company Solar Philippines. He was young, charismatic, and telling a compelling story about bringing solar power to a nation struggling with high electricity costs. Forbes had just named him to the inaugural 30 Under 30 Asia list, topping the Manufacturing and Energy category. The magazine hailed him as a visionary who had spent $100 million in bank loans and personal savings to build solar farms. He was exactly the kind of world-changing young entrepreneur the list was designed to celebrate. A decade later, Leviste is now a congressman in the Philippines—and the subject of plunder and graft complaints over what the Ombudsman calls "ghost electricity". Investigators allege that he and his mother, Senator Loren Legarda, conspired to secure exclusive government solar contracts worth billions, o...