The man, who came to Sweden from Croatia in 1981 and received a permanent residency permit in 1985, has 18 criminal convictions on his record.
His latest arrest came in 2007, when a divided Court of Appeal sentenced him to several years in jail followed by permanent expulsion from the country.
With four children and one grandchild in Sweden, all of whom are Swedish citizens, the man called on the Supreme Court to rip up the deportation order and allow him leave to appeal.
The Supreme Court turned for instruction to the Prosecutor-General, who ruled that the man was a ruthless extortionist who had extracted money from his victims on pain of death.
Prosecutor-General Guntra Åhlund ruled that, while children’s best interests always have to be taken into account, in this case the safety of society in general “must weigh more heavily”.