Zoran Tadic (pictured), an accused war criminal, had been hiding in Sydney for 26 years

An alleged war criminal who hid in plain sight in Sydney for 26 years has fled to Serbia, it has been revealed.

Zoran Tadic, 59, was due to face charges in Croatia after allegedly fronting a paramilitary group responsible for the torture and mass killing of 43 villagers in Skabrnja in November 1991.

In January, Croatian police made charges against Tadic public and the Australian Federal Police (ADF) had been working with war crime investigators in Zadar.

But Croatian authorities had failed to sanction a formal arrest warrant to stop Tadic from leaving Australia because they believed he was too fat to go on the run, The Australian reported.

That theory has now been disproved as it is now thought that Tadic left Australia on February 9.

Tadic arrived in Australia seven months after the massacre in which victims had their ears hacked off or were dragged behind horses prior to their brutal deaths.

For more than two decades Tadic, who initially spoke very little English, has been hiding out in Heckenberg, a south-western Sydney suburb.

While living in the NSW capital Tadic managed to purchase his own home for $87,000, and since 2001 he's held down a job in a liquor store.

Tadic (pictured top centre) is accused of took place when he was in command of a paramilitary force, organised by the former Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Seselj

The Croatian war crime investigators believe Tadic participated in the torture and mass killing of 43 villagers in Skabrnja (pictured) a village in southern Croatia

In January Tadic's new life came under threat when Croatian police released details of the charges against him, with the plan to issue an extradition request to Australia.

But the ADP had no power to stop Tadic leaving the country as it wasn't in receipt of an arrest warrant nor an extradition request from the Croatians.

Seven months after the massacre, Tadic (pictured, far left) arrived in Australia, although authorities are still unclear on how Tadic arrived in the country

It's believed that Croatian authorities had known Tadic was involved in the massacre for years, but until January had not been able to track down which of the many men with the same name had been involved.

Savo Strbac, a polit­ical leader of the Serbian group Veritas, who knew Tadic, claims when Tadic was made aware of the charges against him he had suffered a 'minor heart scare'.

It's understood he immediately made arrangements to leave Australia, and left around February 9.

It's believed that friends of Tadic help fund his escape plan.