Former Lifeway Global Ministry director indicted on 22 counts over alleged misuse of ministry funds
A Tennessee grand jury has indicted a former Lifeway Christian Resources director on theft, forgery and computer charges. He is accused of diverting referral fees and payments for Bibles. Lifeway, a Southern Baptist publisher, said it fired him and referred the case to authorities.
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A former director at Lifeway Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) publishing entity, was arrested on Tuesday, Oct. 20, after a Williamson County, Tenn., grand jury indicted him on 22 counts. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) identified him as Giancarlo Trejo, 37. Lifeway knew him as Giancarlo Montemayor. Before leaving, he was director of Global Ministry.
The Oct. 7 indictment charges one count of felony theft, three counts of felony computer offense, 10 counts of forgery, seven counts of computer offense and one count of criminal simulation. According to the TBI, investigators allege that he steered fraudulent contacts to collect referral fees, asked people who received complimentary Bibles to send payments to his personal account, and used his employer's credit card for personal expenses and travel. He was booked into the Williamson County Jail on a $250,000 bond. The TBI said the charges are accusations, not evidence, and that he is presumed innocent.
Lifeway told Baptist Press it learned of his conduct in May 2025 and found through an internal investigation "serious violations" of its financial and ethical policies. It fired him and referred the matter to local law enforcement. The TBI investigation began in October 2025 at the request of District Attorney General Stacey Edmonson. Lifeway said auditors confirmed it was "an isolated incident" and that it is tightening expense and travel controls. Montemayor joined Lifeway in 2018 to manage Spanish-language acquisitions and became a director in 2021.
"I was shocked, saddened and disappointed to learn that a trusted leader misappropriated ministry funds for personal gain," said James Carroll, chairman of Lifeway's board of trustees.
Sources
Williamson Source: Man Indicted in Williamson County Bible Distribution Fraud Investigation (Oct 20, 2026)
https://williamsonsource.com/man-indicted-in-williamson-county-bible-distribution-fraud-investigation/Baptist Press: Former Lifeway employee charged with misuse of funds (Oct 20, 2026)
https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/former-lifeway-employee-charged-with-misuse-of-funds/
Corrections and updates
- Update, October 21, 2026: Brief prepared from Williamson Source (Morgan Mitchell; published Oct. 20, 2026) and Baptist Press (Scott Barkley; posted Oct. 20, 2026). One-off; no threadId. The sheet date is Oct. 20, the arrest and booking, so sourcePublishedAt is 2026-10-20. The indictment date in both stories is Oct. 7. The brief is in the Oct. 21 edition, so publishedAt and editionDate are 2026-10-21. Tags are us, law-courts, and protestant. No persecution tag. Allegations only. Rechecked Oct. 21, 2026: neither Williamson Source nor Baptist Press reports a next court date. Williamson Source says the TBI investigation began Oct. 12, 2025. No one-line update added. No prior Wayback snapshot was found for either source. No photo.